By RYAN WALKER

For The Ironton Tribune

 

COAL GROVE — Chase Hall recorded four touchdowns and Kaden Murphy added two of his own as the Coal Grove Hornets staved off a furious comeback from the West Jefferson Roughriders to win 47-40 at Lemaster Stadium on Friday night.

The Roughriders, who trailed 39-13 with 11:56 remaining in the game, recovered three-consecutive onside kicks and quarterback Austin Bruscher threw for 205 yards and 4 touchdowns in the final period to take a slim 40-39 lead with 7:08 on the clock.

Coal Grove had only ran one offensive play in the quarter before the chaos began, which was a 4-yard touchdown run by Hall to begin the final quarter of play.

When the Hornets got the ball back, they methodically marched down the field as Hall ripped off a 15-yard gain to put the Hornets into Roughrider territory and then finished off the 6-play drive with a 32-yard burst for the game-winning score.

The Roughriders would get the ball back and manage to work their way down the field to the Hornet 30, but Bruscher’s fourth down pass towards the end zone was batted away to seal the win for the Hornets.

The first quarter was practically dominated by the Hornets as the defense held West Jefferson to a negative four yards in the quarter.

Kaden Murphy provided the offensive fireworks in the opening frame, taking a pitch to the home sideline and diving into the end zone to give Coal Grove an early 8-0 lead with 8:42. He then capped off a five-play drive by fielding another pitch from quarterback Whyatt Mannon, got around the corner, and streaked down the Hornet sideline for a 20-yard score.

Murphy’s score was set up on the prior play, as Steven Simpson busted through the West Jefferson defense on an inside trap play for a 30-yard gain.

One of the key moments in the first half came when West Jefferson recovered an onside kick in the second quarter. They managed to drive to the Coal Grove 1 with 1:49 to play in the half, but were stuffed on a fourth-and-goal play, giving the ball back to the Hornets to preserve a 23-7 halftime lead.

Hall finished the game leading all rusher with 294 yards on 35 carries. Murphy added 58 of his own and Simpson had 52 yards on the night.

Receiver Mason Book highlighted the West Jefferson offensive attack hauling in eight receptions for 135 yards and three touchdown catches.

Bruscher finished the night completing 21 of 36 passes for 317 yards and throwing five touchdown passes.

Coal Grove now advances to the regional semifinals and will face the top-seed Fort Frye Cadets. The site of the game will be determined Sunday.

West Jefferson     0    7     6     27   —    40

Coal Grove           16   7     8     16   —    47

First Quarter

CG — Kaden Murphy 8 run (Chase Hall run), 8:42.

CG — Kaden Murphy 20 run (Chase Hall run), 4:51.

Second Quarter

CG — Chase Hall 16 run (John Turner kick), 7:51.

WJ — Ethan Hostetler 18 run (Ben Ryan kick), 6:02

Third Quarter

CG — Chase Hall 55 run (Chase Hall run), 7:35.

WJ — Luke Taylor 10 pass from Austin Bruscher (pass failed), 4:01.

Fourth Quarter

CG — Chase Hall 4 run (Whyatt Mannon pass to Gavin Gipson), 11:56.

WJ — Mason Book 35 pass from Austin Bruscher (Austin Bruscher pass to Jessie Harper), 10:09.

WJ — Mason Book 12 pass from Austin Bruscher (pass failed), 8:31.

WJ — Tanner Salyer 42 pass from Austin Bruscher (Ben Ryan kick), 8:00.

WJ — Mason Book 23 pass from Austin Bruscher (pass failed), 7:08.

CG — Chase Hall 32 run (Chase Hall run), 3:47.

———

WJ  CG

First downs   18   18

Rushes-yards       20-66     51-396

Passing yards      317 0

Total yards    383 396

Cmp-Att-Int   21-36-1  0-0-0

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-1

Penalties-yards    6-63       6-67

Punts-average     3-37.3    1-48.0

———

Individual Leaders

RUSHING – West Jefferson: Spencer George 6-11, Tanner Salyer 5-35, Austin Buescher 2-(minus 3), Ethan Hostetler 6-27, Mason Book 1-(minus 4); Coal Grove – Chase Hall 35-294 4 TD, Steven Simpson 7-52, Kaden Murphy 5-58 2 TD, Whyatt Mannon 1-(minus 3), Gavin Gipson 1-(minus 3), Team 2-(minus 2).

PASSING – West Muskingum: Austin Buescher 21-36-1 317 5 TD; Coal Grove – None.

RECEIVING – West Jefferson: Ethan Hostetler 6-92, Mason Book 8-135 3 TD, Luke Taylor 1-11 TD, Jesse Harper 2-10, Tanner Salyer 2-36 TD, Owen Warner 1-12 Jacob Fitzpatrick 1-11; Coal Grove – None.

MISSED FIELD GOALS – None.