By: Adam Freeman
The Mt. Lions’ football team traveled to Romney last Friday to take on the ranked, AAA, Trojans of Hampshire County. The Trojans would receive the opening kickoff and score three plays later, on a 53-yard bubble screen pass. Hampshire would kick the PAT and be out to an early 7-0 lead. Tucker would answer the call on their opening drive as Sam Marks would find Garrett Wilfong, and he would do the rest, taking it 71 yards to the house. The two-point attempt was no good and the Lions trailed 7-6. On Hampshire’s next possession, they would complete a pass in the flat and Wilfong would deliver a hit forcing the ball onto the turf that linebacker, Marky Phillips, would scoop it up and take it 29 yards into the end zone. The two-point try was no good and Tucker took the lead 12-7. Tucker would force a Trojan punt and then mount a drive, capped off with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Marks to Reid Kisamore. With another failed conversion, Tucker’s lead was extended to 18-7. Hampshire would attempt to put a drive together however, senior defensive back, Garrett Wilfong, would intercept a pass and take it back for a 39-yard Mt. Lion pick six. Tucker would be successful on this two-point conversion and take a 26-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Tucker would continue its route into the second quarter as Jared Reall would find the end zone from 4 yards out. The conversion was no good and the score was 32-7. The preceding kickoff was placed inside the 5-yard line by Wilfong and two plays later sophomore defensive end, Lucas Barb, would force a fumble in the end zone. Josh Crossland would recover the ball for the Mt. Lions’ touchdown, the third defensive score of the half. The two-point try was unsuccessful and the lead was 38-7. Hampshire would stop the bleeding, scoring one more time before the half on a 16-yard touchdown run. The Trojans again would kick the PAT making the score 38-14 going into the break. To start the third quarter, Tucker would get a pair of touchdowns from Trevan Bonner via 29-yard and 11-yard passes from Marks. With those, the score was 52-14 at the end of the third quarter. The Mt. Lions would score one more time before the end of the contest on a 6-yard pass from Marks to Wilfong. The two-point attempt failed, and Tucker was up 60-14. The Trojans would punch in one more score before the final horn on a 4-yard run with a successful PAT making the final score 60-21. QB Sam Marks finished the night on 10 of 14 passing for 177 yards and 5 touchdowns, Jared Reall ended with 270 yards rushing on 19 attempts and 1 touchdown, Garrett Wilfong added 2 catches for 77 yards and 2 touchdowns, Reid Kisamore pitched in 2 catches, 42 yards, and a touchdown and Trevan Bonner had 4 catches for 41 yards and 2 touchdowns. With the win, Tucker County finishes its regular season with a perfect 10-0 mark for the second time in back-to-back seasons. It is anticipated at this time that Tucker will host St. Mary’s High School on Friday at 7pm in a first-round playoff contest. However, there are several injunctions throughout the state that may affect this seeding and matchup.
