‘Jacks Win ‘Backyard Brawl’ Over ‘Cats, 15-6
The battle for gridiron pride took place at Paden City’s Berger Field on Friday with the Wildcats facing off with the Valley Lumberjacks for bragging rights in the ‘Backyard Brawl’, Wetzel County style. In a hard fought battle, it was Valley coming out on the winning side of the score, 15-6, when all was said and done.
“It’s nice to get a win. The boys have been working hard every day and it was nice to see them get rewarded with a victory,” said Valley Head Coach Tom West. The ‘Jacks came into the game looking for their fourth win of the season, while Paden City was looking to end its season with five wins.
Playing to a scoreless first quarter, Valley was determined to get on the scoreboard in the opening minutes of the second. Cody Scott ran it in from two yards out for the first score of the game to give Valley the lead. Jeremiah Burch split the uprights for the extra point, putting the score at 7-0.
With 6:50 to go in the first half, the visitors again struck pay dirt. Cody Bates bullied his way in from six yards out for a touchdown. Scott caught the two point conversion pass from Garrett Ueltschy to add to their score and take a 15-0 lead at the break.
The defensive battle between the two teams carried into the third quarter with neither team adding to their side of the scoreboard. With 9:45 to play in the fourth, Paden City’s Malakai Anderson threw an 11-yard pass to Josh Bennett to keep the ‘Cats from being shut out. The pass for the extra point failed and the game ended with Valley getting the win, 15-6.
Valley rushed for 166 yards in the game on 43 carries and passed for 96 yards, for a total of 262 yards.
Paden City collected 115 rushing yards on 32 carries and passed for 91 yards for a total of 206 yards in the contest.
The Lumberjacks recovered one of two fumbles and were penalized eight times, costing them 65 yards.
The Wildcats recovered all three fumbles they committed and were penalized 10 times for 82 yards.
Bates was the leading rusher for Valley, with 18 carries for 110 yards, while Scott netted 28 yards on seven carries. Casey Pingley tallied 22 yards on nine totes for the visitors. Matthew Poling netted seven yards, while Drew Wade netted two yards rushing.
Ueltschy completed five of six passes for 90 yards. Scott led the Valley receivers by catching four passes for 82 yards, while Matthew Poling hauled in one pass for eight yards.
Anderson was the leading rusher for Paden City with 18 carries for 89 yards. Taylor Still had 14 carries for 26 yards.
Anderson completed seven of 16 passes for 91 yards and was intercepted once. Bennett caught four passes for 72 yards, with Mitchell Stewart catching two passes for 23 yards.
Defensively, Valley’s Scott had nine tackles, while Justin Carter finished the night with eight stops. Clay Ueltschy and Billy Streets each hauled down six Wildcats.
Streets, who has recorded a quarterback sack in almost every game, netted three in this contest, while Ueltschy dropped one ‘Cat. Garrett and Clay Ueltschy each had interceptions.
Paden City finished the season at 4-6. They will lose seniors Mitchell Stewart, Josh Bennett, Malakai Anderson, Silas Davis, and Michael Greathouse to graduation, while the ‘Jacks will look to finish at 5-5 with a victory over the Cameron Dragons Friday night at 7:30 p.m at Tom West Field in Pine Grove.