By Tom Bragg, For Lootpress.com
Gallery by Jen Lewis
WINFIELD, W.Va. – Winfield’s offense has become infamous in the world of Class AA high school football in West Virginia for its ground and pound attack. On Friday, however, the Generals were mostly just grounded.
Independence scored on its first two possessions and took advantage of four Winfield turnovers in a near constant downpour as the No. 14 Patriots held on and knocked off the No. 6 Generals 13-0 to secure a spot in next week’s Class AA state semifinals.
The natural grass playing surface at Generals Stadium in Putnam County is normally one of the best in the Kanawha Valley, even in poor conditions, but on Friday the barrage of rain formed puddles early and turned the middle of the field into a muddy mess not long after.
That’s why it was important for Independence (8-3) to work fast and score early on Friday before the surface turned to slop. Senior running back Tyler Linksweiler carried the ball early and often, capping Indy’s opening drive with a three-yard touchdown run. After a Winfield punt, sophomore quarterback Silas Nelson put a bow on an 11-play Patriots’ drive with a 23-yard touchdown run and a 13-0 lead in the first quarter.
“Sometimes when you get in this weather, sometimes it can favor under center, and sometimes it hurts you under center because you’ve got the mud.” Independence coach John Lilly said. “Tonight was our night.”
Winfield (9-3) wasn’t without its chances on Friday. The Generals drove into Independence territory six times – three fumbles, an interception near the goal line and two turnovers on downs.
The Generals fumbled at their own 29-yard line on the first play of the second quarter, but forced an Indy turnover on downs on the following possession. With the ball back, Winfield quarterback Chase Massey connected with Easton Pinkerton for a 42-yard gain to the Independence 35-yard line. Two plays later, another fumble, this one recovered by RaSean Simms.
Then just before halftime Simms got involved again, grabbed an underthrown pass from Massey near the goal line with less than two minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Winfield was threatening again early in the third quarter, when Massey threw one of his best passes of the game. Aiden Hernandez made a valiant effort to go up and snag the ball but could not stay in bounds and was ruled to have come down out of the back of the end zone for another turnover on downs. The Generals would fumble again at the Independence 30-yard line later in the quarter and got as close as the 14-yard line in the fourth quarter before yet another turnover on downs.
“We won the turnover battle,” Lilly said. “When we saw the rain and we saw the field conditions, we knew we had to win the turnover battle.”
For Independence, Linksweiler finished with 23 carries for 134 yards and a touchdown, while Nelson ran the ball 13 times for 51 yards and a touchdown. There wasn’t much passing going on Friday, but Trey Bowers led all receivers with three receptions for 46 yards.
Jayce Miller led Winfield with 65 rushing yards on 12 carries, while Massey finished the game 4 of 12 passing for 62 yards with the one interception.
Independence now moves on to a familiar spot – the state semifinals – where the Patriots will take on a familiar foe – Fairmont Senior – for a chance to return to Wheeling Island Stadium and defend their state title in the Super Six.
Hard to imagine this being the case early in the season, when Independence opened its slate three losses in the first five games. Since then, the Patriots have won six consecutive contests and a young team has grown up some in the eyes of its head coach.
“We lost 15 three-year starters [from last season],” Lilly said. “We had a lot of young puppies in there, and they had to grow up a little bit. They get better each and every week. I’m proud of them. That’s tough to do, guys. It’s tough to go on the road and win back to back playoff games.”
I 13 0 0 0 – 13
W 0 0 0 0 – 0
SCORING
FIRST QUARTER
I – Tyler Linksweiler 3 run (kick blocked)
I – Silas Nelson 23 run (Micah Cuthbert kick)
STATISTICS
Rushing: (I) Linksweiler 23-134-1, Nelson 13-51-1, Trey Bowers 2-(-1), Conor Bradford 1-(-1); (W) Jayce Miller 12-65, K-juan Pearson 8-10, Chase Massey 6-24, Easton Pinkerton 3-(-4).
Passing: (I) Nelson 4-10-61-0-1; (W) Massey 4-12-62-0-1, Jared Miller 0-1-0-0-0.
Receiving: (I) Bowers 3-46, Linksweiler 1-5; (W) Toby Laughery 2-14, Pinkerton 1-42, Aiden Hernandez 1-9, Pearson 1-1.
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Tom Bragg