Published: November 16, 2008 02:47 am            

Playoff pounding

Park breaks out with huge third quarter, rolls past FSHS

FAIRMONT — Sure, Fairmont Senior knew all about Wheeling Park’s ability to turn any play — no matter where the ball is placed — into something big.

But the Polar Bears and the team’s coaching staff couldn’t have expected this. Not this much offense, and certainly not this fast.

Well, it happened in Saturday afternoon’s Class AAA state playoff opener at Wheeling Island Stadium. And if you blinked, you might have missed it.

No. 3 Wheeling Park turned a competitive game into a full-on rout, scoring 28 third-quarter points en route to a 49-0 victory over 14th-seeded Fairmont Senior, ending the Polar Bears’ season and hopes of a deep playoff run just one game in.

“I’d rather lose 7-0 than 49-0. That’s tough to take,” Fairmont Senior coach J.L. Abbott said. “But the kids played hard all year, and they played hard (Saturday). But when things start rolling against you, that tidal wave is hard to stop, and we weren’t able to do that.”

This was more like an earthquake, at least in terms of frequency and short, damaging bursts.

How so? Well, consider this: The Patriots’ longest scoring drive, which occurred in the fourth quarter with the contest well in hand, lasted just seven plays.

The other six touchdowns came on drives fewer than four plays, including a pair which hit pay dirt right away, highlighted by Alec Wood’s 68-yard halfback pass to Travis Ellis on Wheeling Park’s first play from scrimmage.

In all, Wheeling Park (10-1) piled up 471 yards of total offense, 316 on the ground, and averaged 10.5 yards per play.

Wood finished with nine carries for 117 yards along with touchdown runs of 19 and 22 yards in the third period. Dominique Jenkins (45), Marcus George (18) and Eric Mendenhall (14) added second-half scores for the Patriots.

“We have some running backs who could play for a lot of teams,” Wheeling Park coach Mark Nardone said.

“The thing is, when you have the speed that we have, that’s how you’re going to score,” Nardone continued. “There’s no secrets here. We’ve got great players who are fast and can score on any given place on the field. They’re special kids.”

Wheeling Park made quick work of Fairmont Senior (6-5) in more ways that one. The team used its speed on offense to rack up six runs of 20 yards or more and, as already noted, wasted little time finding the end zone. In the third, the Patriots scored four times in a span of just 6:03.

“When things are happening that many times that badly, there’s no way out. You’re in quicksand,” Abbott said.

“They’re athletic. They’re not that much faster than us. I don’t know,” Fairmont Senior quarterback Logan Moore said. “Holes opened up. We missed tackles. Just stupid mistakes.

“Everything was going their way.”

The Polar Bears’ offense couldn’t finish off their best drive of the game — a 12-play march late in the first quarter, as Moore was picked off by Justin Poling at the Wheeling Park 14-yard line — and had trouble moving the ball thereafter.

Fairmont Senior finished with just 155 yards of total offense, 54 in the second half, and averaged 2.8 yards per play.

Moore went 9 of 28 for 95 yards and was intercepted twice by Poling. Aaron Fetty caught five passes for 46 yards, while Remington Skarzinski carried 16 times for 39 yards.

While the season didn’t end as Polar Bear players had hoped — Fetty, for one, longed to “end with a win” and a state championship — the team plans to turn the negative into a positive heading into the offseason.

“(This loss) gives us a lot of motivation going into next season,” Moore said. “Last year, losing to East (Fairmont) and not making the playoffs motivated this whole team. We made it one step further this year.”

Wheeling Park hosts sixth seed University (10-1), a 35-14 winner over No. 11 Spring Valley Saturday, next week at a time and date to be determined.

E-mail Nick Cammuso at ncammuso@timeswv.com.

        

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