COAL GROVE – Lightning and thunder held up the start of the Coal Grove-Gallipolis game for two hours.

Saturday, September 02, 2000

COAL GROVE – Lightning and thunder held up the start of the Coal Grove-Gallipolis game for two hours.

When the game finally started, Gallipolis played copy cat and struck with its own lightning and thunder to beat the Hornets 40-6 Friday night.

The Blue Devils used scoring runs of 63 and 59 yards plus an 80-yard punt return en route to their second win in as many games.

"Their speed and quickness was the difference," Hornets coach Nick Miller said. "They got off their blocks and made the plays."

The stormy weather was nothing like the stormy health condition of the Hornets. Injuries not only hampered Coal Grove coming into the game, but additional injuries during the game made matters worse.

Leading rusher Jason Adams missed the game with an injury, as did defensive back Ryan Brown. Andy Bryant, Adams’ replacement, suffered a hip injury late in the first quarter and did not return.

"We looked like a M*A*S*H unit toward the end of the first half. We were banged up and they were a good football team," Miller said.

Gallipolis had 272 total yards including 212 on the ground. The Hornets were limited to 142 yards – all on the ground – and had just 14 net yards the first half.

The lack of a passing game concerns Miller.

"We’ve got to become two dimensional," Miller said. "We can’t keep lining up against teams without a threat of a passing game. We’re going to work harder on that this week."

Ike Simmons had 97 yards on just seven carries and scored three touchdowns to lead the Blue Devils offense. Allen Skinner added 92 yards on five attempts and Bobby Jones 33 yards on six tries.

Rock Hill 12, Vinton Co. 0

McARTHUR – Coach Andy Hall made a vow and the Rock Hill Redmen lived up to that promise.

After losing 31-12 to Northwest last week, Hall promised a better defensive effort by the Redmen in their game Friday against Vinton County. And Rock Hill did just that with a 12-0 shutout of the Vikings.

Scott Turley and Johnny Webb each rushed for 71 yards as the Redmen rolled up 189 yards on the ground.

Quarterback Gabe Medinger returned after missing last week’s game with an injury and completed 3 -of-13 pass for 102 yards and an interception.

The Redmen defense held Vinton County to 130 yards on the ground and just 35 through the air.

Tim Wynette ran 13 times for 63 yards to lead the Vikings, 0-2.

Rock Hill (1-1) scored all its points in the first quarter.

Batavia 27, Green 6

FRANKLIN FURNACE – If weren’t for bad luck Green might have had no luck at all Friday night.

Every time the Bobcats got something going, it seemed, the football gods had something else in mind.

The Bobcats (0-2) fell to the Batavia Bulldogs (1-1) 27-6 in a game that was filled with rain, lightning and high humidity.

"We moved the ball when we wanted, but we made mistakes that kept us out of the end zone. But they are mistakes we can correct. I’m pretty pleased with our effort," Green coach Dan McDavid said.

Brad Bainer led the Bobcats in rushing with 79 yards on 20 carries and quarterback Alex Poe ran for 43 yards on nine carries and a touchdown. Poe also lit up the rain filled skies with 225 yards passing hitting 11 of 28 passes and a pair of interceptions.

"We’ve played two quality teams and I’m real proud of my kids," McDavid said. "Defensively, we’re not there yet. We got to look at some kids tonight at different positions, and we think those kids are going to help us."

If the humidity was not draining enough to both teams then the lightning might have been. With 7:57 left in the first half, play was stopped because of lightning strikes in the area. Once play resumed, 45 minutes later, rain was the problem.

"This was one of the most hot and humid ball games I’ve been around, Batavia had four or five kids who played both ways, and our guys played both ways and they hung right in there," McDavid said.

Jansten Dunn led the Bulldogs with 123 yards on 13 carries and Brian Clark rushed for 91 yards.

Dunn got the Bulldogs rolling by taking the first play from scrimmage and running 29 yards to the Bobcats 26-yard line. Three plays later the Bulldogs fumbled the ball at the 8-yard line.

Green then drove from one 8-yard line to the other. 12 plays later and Bainer was hauled down at the 4-yard line on fourth and goal.

With the Bobcats keying on Dunn, Clark was free to roam. He broke free for a 39-yard romp and a touchdown with 10:24 left in the half.

Green again penetrated Bulldog territory but a fumble at the 40-yard line ended the drive.

With under a minute to play the Bulldogs got on the board again when Andy Musselman went in from nine yards out making it 14-0.

One last bit of misfortune awaited the Bobcats when Poe launched a pass with under 10 seconds left in the half. Two Bulldog defenders collided leaving Jimmy Moore alone. In stride, he gathered the pass and went 81 yards before beiong caught at the 3-yard line. The clock ran out during the 81-yard play.

Wayne 30, Chesapeake 22 2 OT

WAYNE, W.Va. – Everyone remembers what happens at the end of the game. But Phil Davis can only remember what happened early.

It was some early mistakes that may have ruined the Chesapeake Panthers chances Friday night as they lost a 30-22 double overtime heartbreaker to the Wayne Pioneers.

"We should have been up 14-0 early. The two turnovers killed us. They were momentum killers," said Davis as the Panthers saw a 16-game regular season winning streak come to an end.

"But then I didn’t think we could come back from where we were, and we did. Both teams made plays, they just made more of them."

Chesapeake took the opening kickoff and went 78 yards in 14 plays to score on a 2-yard run by Josh Waugh. The conversion kick failed and it was 6-0.

Wayne fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Matt Rucker pounced on the ball for Chesapeake at the 36. The Panthers moved to the 7-yard line and threatened to go up by two touchdowns.

Two penalties moved the ball all the way back to the 47. Zeb Best bolted for 24 yards, and then Luke Beach and Waugh had 8-yard gains to get the ball to the 10. But the Panthers fumbled on the next play and Wayne recovered.

Wayne came back with a time-consuming drive and scored on a 10-yard run by Justin Clagg with 6:33 left in the half. Best blocked the conversion kick and it was tied 6-6.

"We had the ball whole first quarter and fumbled at the 5-yard line. I think that makes a big difference. And we didn’t have it the second quarter. They scored and we turned it right back over to them," said Davis.