By Rick Kozlowski
MARTINSBURG — Just as soon as Koi Fagan dashed 52 yards for a touchdown on the first series of the third quarter, the Martinsburg quarterback’s night ended.
His statistical night didn’t finish until about 45 minutes later when it was determined that his underhanded toss to Boston Todd for a 61-yard touchdown went forward and was an actual passing play in the Bulldogs’ 56-14 Class AAAA quarterfinal win over Parkersburg South at Walker Stadium.
All told, Fagan wound up with nine rushes for 186 yards — a 20.7-yard-per-carry average — and four touchdowns, while throwing for 128 yards and two touchdowns for the top-seeded Bulldogs.
It was quite a night — or, more like half a night — for one of the state’s frontrunners for the Kennedy Award, emblematic as the top player in the state.
“We were just trying to get a win,” Fagan said. “We just wanted to execute like last week and do better than last week.
“We’re trying to get people ready for the last week of the year.”
Which begs the question whether or not Martinsburg’s starters are seeing ample game action as they head into next weekend’s semifinals.
The Bulldogs will host Huntington at 1:30 p.m. next Saturday for the third straight season in semifinal action when the two squads will face each other in the final four.
“We’re in pretty decent shape,” Martinsburg coach David Walker said. “We’ve been doing a little extra conditioning to offset (changing the lineup) a little.”
He wanted his starters to play one series in the third quarter, a series that lasted just three plays.
“We scored quick,” Walker said. “Our JV guys played pretty much after that.
“When we substituted in the second half, you get a little sloppy. You want to see the guys execute better.
“The older guys did an excellent job.”
But it was a sophomore who set the tone for the game when Ty Rickets stepped in front of a swing pass thrown by Collin Hayes for an interception and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown.
The interception was one of two by Ricketts, one of four by the Bulldogs in the first half and one of five in all.
“All week watching film, we saw they like to run that little screen pass,” Ricketts said. “I jumped the screen. I jumped it and took it back.
“I’m proud of the secondary. We do a pretty good job of that. We watched three or four hours of film.”
Despite Martinsburg gaining a quick lead, Parkersburg South came right back and scored on an 11-play drive, using a 19-yard screen pass from Hayes to Devon Forshey to tie the game at 7 with 7:31 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs turned right around and put together a 13-play drive that ended with Fagan running five yards for a touchdown to provide a lead Martinsburg never relinquished.
Ricketts then picked off his second pass, and Fagan used the turnover to hit Jaeshawn Dirting with a 5-yard touchdown pass two plays later, making it 21-7.
Looking at the interception total, Walker said, “It was a combination of good coverage and pressure. He had to get rid of the ball quick.”
After Brayden Miller’s 68-yard punt return was negated by a penalty on Parkersburg South’s next possession, Fagan struck on the very next play when he raced 75 yards for a touchdown and a 28-7 lead.
Interceptions by Mason Walley and Kyree Bunny on the Patriots’ next two possessions set up a 14-yard scoring run by Fagan and a 5-yard touchdown rush by Brian Dick, giving Martinsburg a 42-7 lead with 3:34 left in the first half.
Fagan was mobbed by Parkersburg South’s rush and somehow slipped away for the score.
Then Todd took the underhanded toss and scored the touchdown as he dashed untouched with what turned out to be a pass play upon further review.
“Our defense played great and we executed on offense,” Fagan said.
Beside Fagan’s 52-yard run to conclude Martinsburg’s scoring, Patriots’ backup quarterback Kinzyn Lutchmansingh hooked up with Forshey on a 30-yard pass play for their final score with a minute left.
Parkersburg South’s season ended at 6-6.
Martinsburg defeated Huntington 47-15 in the second week of the regular season.
Huntington won two seasons ago on the way to winning the Class AAA championship, while the Bulldogs prevailed a year ago as they won the program’s 10th title.
Huntington advanced to the semifinals with a 51-39 victory at Wheeling Park.
