Bah! Another Hartman.
No, the folks at Musselman High haven’t figured out how to squeeze another year of eligibility out of departed Kennedy Award winner Blake Hartman.
But the Spring Mills Cardinals certainly received their fill of the Hartman name last weekend.
Blake’s younger brother Bayden, now a junior, stepped into a starting role under center and led the Applemen to a 52-23 win at home.
The younger Hartman threw for 289 yards and three touchdowns on 13 of 24 passing—not the best completion percentage, but he finished interception free and showed promise and poise in his first start.
Hartman had 200 yards and two TDs by halftime, tacking on a couple more 20-plus yardage completions and his final touchdown in the second half.
Aiding Hartman was the running, and receiving, of Koby Hayslette, who caught two scoring strike and ran in a third.
The road for the Applemen gets considerably more difficult this week as perennial Class AAA power Martinsburg comes calling Friday night.
The Bulldogs, playing without injured Bowling Green recruit Braxton Todd, still went on the and knocked off Salem (Va.) High School, the current 4A champs in Virginia.
In Todd’s absence, Hudson Clement ran for three touchdowns splitting QB duties with Ezra Bagent, who completed 12 passes for 116 yards. Murphy Clement caught eight total passes for 117 yards.
That Was … Impressive
Cabell Midland and Spring Valley both lost some talent from their respective 2020 teams, but both also figured to be in the mix for the top AAA team in West Virginia along with the aforementioned Bulldogs and fellow MSAC school South Charleston.
The two met in Week 1 on the Timberwolves home turf and the outcome was about what you’d expect, a hard-fought, narrow victory.
The victory belonged to the Knights, who in typical fashion threw the ball a grand total of—checks the stat sheet—zero times. Yes, zero. Cabell is known for its punishing option-attack and while the 2021 team no longer has the services of wrecking ball Jacob Caudil, the replacement appears more than serviceable.
Jackson Fetty, spearheading the offense from the all important feature-back role in the Knights’ midline option attack, was fed the ball 30 times for 141 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
Fetty was aided by the speedy Mason Moran, who turned a whole four carries into 140 yards and a score. Ryan Wolfe added 66 yards on seven carries and another score for a balanced CM attack.
Cabell hosts Riverside this week while the T-Wolves of Spring Valley will look to get back in the win column and is playing host to Parkersburg. The Big Reds and fellow Kennedy Award candidate Bryson Singer are smarting after a lopsided loss on the road to the Huntington Highlanders.
Not the Ideal Debut
Singer didn’t have the best debut to his Kennedy Award candidacy in Huntington. In fairness, neither did his teammates.
The Highlanders held Singer and company to 109 yards of total offense, compared to 453 for the victors in the 47-7 trouncing.
Singer managed only 36 yards on 10 carries on the ground, 37 yards on 3 of 6 passing through the air. He did have one TD toss, but also two interceptions.
One bad game isn’t enough to sink Singer’s candidacy. Many around the state consider him one of the top Division I-level talents. A solid showing against a hungry Spring Valley club on the road will go a long way to putting Singer back atop the early-season Kennedy favorites list.
Speaking of Frontrunners
The preseason Kennedy Watch for 2021 outlined four “favorites” to start the season—three quarterbacks, plus Class AA’s top running back in Independence’s Atticus Goodson.
And while one of those favorites, Singer, struggled a bit out of the gate, the other three more than did their part last week. Still, if I had to give the likely too early edge to any of the other three, it’d had to go to South Charleston junior quarterback Trey Dunn.
Dunn threw five touchdowns and 221 yards on the road against a game Morgantown Mohigans outfit and added another rushing touchdown while totaling 104 stripes on the ground for the Black Eagles.
SC scored six times and Dunn had a hand, or in most cases, an arm, in them all. When the Black Eagles need someone to make a play, they look no further than the man behind center.
South Charleston hits the road to face rival Capital on Saturday. Dunn will face stiff competition with the upcoming MSAC schedule and with more performances like that, he’ll have built a solid resume come playoff time.
Goodson’s numbers may not have been quite as eye-popping—they were far from pedestrian mind you—but 160 yards rushing and three TDs on 19 carries seems almost average by the Patriots senior’s lofty standards.
Still, Goodson found the end zone on runs of 2, 17, and 15 yards in the 47-0 win against Liberty Raleigh.
Atticus Goodson, Independence: 19-160-3td (2, 17 and 15) in 47-0 win against Liberty. The Pats draw the early Week 2 bye this week before a tough showdown with the Poca Dots the following week at Indy.
Finally, Princeton’s Grant Cochran threw for 185 yards and two touchdowns in a lopsided win against Lincoln County. Cochran, breaking in new receivers, still had a solid outing but given the outcome, the Tigers’ coaching staff didn’t feel the need to chuck the ball all over the field all game.
Princeton did have two 100-plus yardage rushers, including freshman Jacob Young (13-116-2tds) who eclipsed the century mark in his first high school outing.
Other Impressive Performances
Gavin Barkley, Shawn Lord, Berkeley Springs:
Barkley threw for 396 yards on 20 of 42 passing with six TDs, running for two more with 49 yards in a losing effort. Lord caught 11 passes for 282 yards and four TDs.
Braelyn Sperringer, Brooke
Bruins QB threw for 108 yards and two TDs on 6 of 11 passing while rushing for 117 yards and two scores on 10 carries, helping Brooke to a season-opening win against Ripley.
Abe Fenwick, George Washington
Fenwick hit three TD passes of 49 yards or more and finished with 253 yards total in his first game as a starter for the Patriots.
Caleb Nutter, Morgantown
Any other night and Nutter’s 138 yards and three TDs on 25 carries might have been the stat of the night. Unfortunately for Nutter and the Mohigans, they squared off against defending Class AAA champion South Charleston.
Ismael Borrero, Hurricane
Redskins’ veteran QB threw for 190 yards on 14 of 17 passing with a pair of TD strikes to go with a 15-yard scoring run of his own. The result saw Hurricane continue its dominance against Winfield, 48-10.
Elijah Redfern, Woodrow Wilson
Flying Eagles two-way standout showed up on both sides of the ball. On defense, he picked off two passes, including returning one 85 yards for a touchdown. Offensively, he had three catches for 71 yards, including a 45-yard scoring. Not to be outdone, teammate Keynan Cook also picked off two passes, one of which was a 10-yard pick six.
Jerrae Hawkins, Wheeling Park
Patriots’ fleet-footed sophomore proving already how dangerous he will be on the perimeter and with the ball in his hands. The favorite to win the state’s 100 and 200 meter dashes come May this spring, Hawkins caught five passes for 134 yards and a touchdown as Wheeling Park knocked off St. Clairsville.
