The Huntington Huntsmen played well for three-and-a-half quarters, before running out of gas in the fourth quarter against a bigger Wellston Rockets football team. Wellston won 21-9.
The Huntsmen scored first and were tied 7-7 at halftime, but were hampered by four second half turnovers and were flagged 11 times for 90 yards in penalties.
Huntington scored first at 1:57 of the first quarter when Elijah McCloskey connected with Jared Allagree on a 21-yard scoring pass. Nate Snyder's PAT kick made it 7-0, capping an 87-yard scoring drive in 7 plays.
Wellston evened the score at 8:59 of the second quarter, when Jordan Lucas hit Rylan Mollihan on a 24-yard TD pass, followed by Chase Ingalls' PAT Kick. Their scoring drive took 4 plays and went 60-yards.
Wellston took the lead on the opening drive of the third quarter, going 57-yards in 2 plays. Jordan Lucas found Rylan Mollihan open for a 50-yard TD strike, but the PAT was missed, giving the Rockets a 13-7 lead.
That score held until the fourth quarter, after Huntington gave the ball up when they failed to score on a fourth and goal at the one-yard line. Wellston took possession, but was tackled in the end-zone for a safety, cutting the margin to 13-9, with the Huntsmen getting the ball back on Wellston's free-kick. But, the Huntsmen fumbled the ball away and the Rockets scored on the next play when Lucas hit Travis Jayjohn on a 71-yard TD pass. Jayjohn ran the 2-point conversion to pay-dirt for a 21-9 lead at 5:43 to play.
Huntington turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions and four of their five second half possessions. Despite that, the Huntsmen actually compiled more total yards at 261, compared to the Rockets 251. Huntington's offense was balanced with 126 rushing yards and 148 in the air. Huntington lost 13 yards in sacks.
Wellston rushed for 163 and passed for 121. They lost 33 yards in sacks.
The Rockets improve to (1-1) and will host (2-0) Unioto next Friday. Huntington falls to (0-2) and will travel to Northwest.
You can hear the full game podcast below.