Gallery by Heather Belcher
Parkersburg South first-team all-state wide receiver Cyrus Traugh is known as a gamechanger.
Saturday afternoon at Van Meter Stadium, Traugh showed exactly why he has earned that rare accolade.
Scoring four touchdowns in four different ways, while also hauling in an interception, Traugh helped the Patriots stay undefeated with a 48-25 win over Beckley.
“It was a good win. Coming into today, we knew Woodrow was going to try and smash-mouth it. They get into those two tight sets with multiple backs and their lineman foot-to-foot. They come off the ball and they are really physical,” Parkersburg South head coach Nate Tanner said. “I knew we would have to match their physicality to have some success. I am super proud of our kids. They capitalized in all three phases of the game.”
The Patriots set the tone for the game on the first play from scrimmage when Traugh scooped a fumble and took it to the house from 46 yards out for a 7-0 lead.
“I think Gage Wright made the play and it was just there for me to scoop and score. It’s great to have teamwork,” Traugh said, smiling.
Quick starts have been nothing new for Parkersburg South this year and Tanner was obviously happy to see that trend continue Saturday.
“I don’t really know what it is. You can call it luck, but there is a quote out there that says something like the harder you work, the luckier you get,” Tanner said. “I feel like in our program that we put in a lot of hard work and the beginning of our first three games have kind of been like that. It was an awesome start.”
In two road wins to start the season, the Flying Eagles had set the tone early, but that was not the case in their home opener.
“We knew Woodrow was a really tough team and they really liked to pound the football. The other teams that they have played hadn’t been able to punch them in the mouth first,” Traugh said. “That is really what we did right off the bat and picked up the quick touchdowns. That started us off really well.”
Beckley settled down on its next possession and moved the ball into South territory before being forced to punt.
South wasted no time in finding the end zone again when Wright rambled 77 yards for a touchdown breaking several tackles along the way to paydirt.
“We missed a ton of tackles, so we have to get tackling better,” Beckley head coach Street Sarrett said. “They had the two big plays early in the first half. If you take those away, we are right in that ball game.”
Elijah Waller turned the momentum back to the home team on South’s next possession when he stepped in front of Robert Shockey’s pass down the middle for an interception.
Six plays later, quarterback Jay Jones dropped a perfect strike over the reach of the defender for a 19-yard touchdown to Nate Grayton.
Unfortunately for the Flying Eagles, that would be as close as they could get the remainder of the afternoon.
A short kick by Beckley gave the Patriots prime field position right before the end of the first quarter. Traugh ran it in from 39 yards out to open the second quarter and South never looked back.
“We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half and we couldn’t overcome that. When two good ball clubs come together, the one that makes the least mistakes wins,” Sarrett said. “We made a ton of mistakes in the first half. I wish we could have played the first half like we did the second. We just have to overcome it.”
Beckley was poised to move back within a touchdown after driving the ball to the South 15-yard line before a bad center exchange was recovered by the Patriots.
Eight plays later, Wright scored his second touchdown of the game on a two-yard run.
The first half fireworks were far from over and Traugh was afforded one more scoring chance on a punt as the clock ticked inside one minute.
Retreating about 10 yards after the catch, Traugh weaved his way left, found his blockers and was off to the races.
“I kind of came back to see where everybody was on the field. I saw an opening to the left side, so I just took it. Thanks to my team for making the blocks and I was just out of there,” Traugh said.
The 55-yard punt return gave Parkersburg South a 34-7 lead at halftime.
“Every skill player that is on the field on offense all capitalized when they got the ball,” Tanner said. “They are all explosive kids and they are all different in their own way. It’s a lot of fun getting to teach those guys.”
South pushed the lead to 41-7 right out of the gate in the second half when Shockey scored on an eight-yard run.
The biggest lead of the game came early in the final period when Shockey hit Traugh for a three-yard score and a 48-13 lead.
Jones scored for Beckley on a one-yard keeper in the third quarter and tossed a 61-yard strike to Darmonte Mitchell. Mitchell added a 63-yard scoring run in the final period.
Beckley (2-1) hosts Bluefield Friday, while Parkersburg South (3-0) hosts county rival Parkersburg.
PS: 14 20 7 7 – 48
WW: 7 0 6 12 – 25
First quarter
PS: Cyrus Traugh 36 fumble recovery (Miciah Jones kick)
PS:Gage Wright 77 run
WW: Nate Grayton 19 pass from Jay Jones (Connor Mollohan kick)
Second quarter
PS: Traugh 39 run (Jones kick)
PS: Wright 2 run (Jones kick)
PS: Traugh 55 punt return (pass failed)
Third quarter
PS: Robert Shockey 8 run (Jones kick)
WW: Jay Jones 1 run
Fourth quarter
PS: Traugh 3 pass from Shockey (Jones kick)
WW: Mitchell 63 run (rush failed)
WW: Mitchell 61 pass from Jones (rush failed)
Stats
Rushing: (PS) Wright 7-142-2, Shockey 11-82-1, Traugh 2-57-1, Mason Reams 1-6, Austin Blackwell 4-45, Team 1 (-16); (WW): Moore 11-50, Mitchell 11-91-1; Tylai Kimble 1 (-1), Grayson 10-48, Jones 4-26-1, Leon Smith 4-19, Team 1-(-12)
Passing: Shockey (PS) 12-20-146-1-1; (WW) Jones 6-13-130-2-2
Receiving: (PS) Traugh 4-13-1, Reams 2-40, Wright 2-27, Mackiah Claudio 1-3, Turner Garretson 2-76, Tristan Walker 1-7; (WW): Grayton 1-19, Moore 3-24, Waller 1-26, Mitchell 1-61-1
