What exactly the Keyser football team saw with their eyes or in their minds on the long ride home from Bridgeport this evening is uncertain. What’s more of a certainty is what they probably didn’t want to see.

 

After an impressive 30-0 win by the Class AA No. 5 Indians over the No. 9 Golden Tornado, the one thing no one traveling with the Mineral County program wanted to spot was a Bridgeport 22 jersey – the one worn by Jake Bowen. It was Bowen who was a one-man wrecking crew in the lopsided win.

 

While the stats don’t always paint an accurate picture of what transpires in a game, the numbers by Bowen tonight didn’t lie. Instead, the numbers proved Bowen was “the truth” for the Indians.

 

By game’s end, Bowen had managed to rush for a career-high total of 258 yards on 22 carries, which came in just two and a half quarters of play. The total also included a pair of touchdowns as Bowen finished the game with more yardage than the Golden Tornado.

 

“It starts with the line and our backs blocking for him … We’ve got eight guys blocking for him and everyone knows that we’re seeing eight and nine-man boxes so they realize if we can get him through that hole he’s got a chance to break one because his vision is that good,” said BHS Coach John Cole. “He’s a weapon and teams are going to have to key on him … I’ve told everyone before that Jake deserves everything he gets because he works for it.”

 

Bowen wasn’t just solid in the first half, he was also deadly. And it didn’t take long for that fact to be established.

 

On the second play of the game, Bowen was hit at the line and appeared to be stopped. Nothing could be further from the case as the junior tailback kept his legs moving and was off to the races for a 61-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 lead with 11:10 on the first quarter clock following Koby Kiefer’s point-after kick.

 

“There was a huge hole that opened up on the line by our linemen and Brian Henderson made a huge block of his own,” said Bowen.  “I got help up a bit when Henderson hit his guy and that sprung me free.”

 

Keyser didn’t seem to let the outburst do much to its confidence. On the first offensive series for the Golden Tornado, they started at their own 14 and used 10 plays to get all the way to the Bridgeport 44. On that tenth play, a third-down pass was off target and the visitors opted to punt.

 

The decision proved solid as Brady Ours, who did a little bit of everything and most of it well, pinned the Indians at the one-yard line as his punt rolled out of bounds. Whatever momentum Keyser gained from putting Bridgeport’s back against the wall was lost on the legs of Bowen two plays later.

 

After a first down run put the ball at the BHS five, Bowen took the handoff and saw little contact in darting up the middle as he went 95 yards for the score as the decision by the Golden Tornado to move everyone close to the line of scrimmage was costly. With no safety help over the top, Bowen needed to win a foot race after getting through the line of scrimmage.

 

“It was another huge hole. I know I said the line did it earlier, but they did it again. This (hole) was even bigger and it was smooth sailing,” said Bowen.

 

The score would go to 13-0 after just four plays from scrimmage for Bridgeport as 6:08 was left on the first period clock. The only negative came when the extra point kick following Bowen’s second score hit the left upright. 

 

“Teams have been putting their safeties on our strong side or we’ve tried to run weak and they move a little bit. Jake sees that cutback and he just goes,” said Cole of the second run for six by Bowen. “When they have that many up there and with his speed, he’s tough to deal with and that run was proof of that.”

 

Things remained the same until early in the second period. At that time, Bridgeport’s Christian Olivio met a Keyser runner head on and forced a fumble that the Tribe was all too happy to recover at their foe’s 26-yard line.

 

This time, BHS would need four plays to score and it would be quarterback John Mercia doing the honors. Merica followed his blockers into the hole and once he neared the goal line he stretched out and got the ball to break over for six. The Kiefer PAT left it 20-0 with 8:06 to play before halftime.

 

It appeared that would be the score at the half as the Indians came up short on a 47-yard field goal try with just two seconds left in the second quarter. However, a personal foul penalty gave the Indians new life and a second shot at a much more reasonable distance.

 

This time, Kiefer was true as his kick split the uprights from 32 yards out. The points gave the Tribe a 23-0 lead at the half.

 

Bridgeport finished the first half with 253 yards of offense on 26 plays and, not surprisingly, it was Bowen who had the bulk of the offense. In fact, he had more than twice the yards of Keyser with a career-high total of 232 yards on 17 carries.

 

Bowen, who went over the 1,000-yard mark in the game, has had the unenviable task of filling in for a long line of speedy and dominant tailbacks in recent years. Eight games into the season, it’s clear he’s been up to the challenge.

 

“I didn’t know how fast he was, but he’s got to be fairly fast because unlike some of our players he’s not getting caught from behind,” said Cole. “That’s a good thing for us to have that speed.”

 

Keyser had just 106 yards on 26 plays in the decisive first half. Ours, who injured his ankle late in the second period, led the team with 65 yards rushing on 11 carries. He would return late in the second quarter and play in the second half, but appeared a bit hobbled.

 

Bridgeport would add another score in third period. D’Andre Holloway, who gave Bowen a blow on the Indians’ first drive of the third period, capped an eight-play, 67-yard drive with a 30-yard run at the 5:40 mark. Kiefer’s point-after kick proved to the final points of the game.

 

Holloway would add 90 yards on 11 carries in the game. No other BHS player rushed for more than 15 yards and the Indians were just 1-of-3 passing for a single yard.

 

Incredibly, Bridgeport held Keyser scoreless and – until the game’s final drive – under 150 yards of total offense. The Golden Tornado finished with 203 yards on 46 plays. Ours led his team with 75 yards rushing on 16 carries. KHS had just one completion in seven attempts for seven yards.

 

“Coach (Adam) King and our other defensive coaches did an outstanding job preparing the team tonight and they executed the game plan for the most part,” said Cole. “I think our schedule prepared us for tonight because we have had to play assignment defense like we did against North Marion for teams that run that read option with their quarterback like Keyser.

 

“The experience has helped us because it’s hard, no matter how hard the kids on our scout team try, to simulate what teams like Keyser do in practice,” Cole continued. “That makes how the defense played tonight even more impressive.”

 

The only downside for the Tribe was three turnovers and several more fumbles they managed to recover. Cole said that’s something that has to be corrected.

 

“Some of those came off the snap, but I don’t think the snap was the problem. We’ll need to watch the film to see what happened,” said Cole. “Obviously, if we keep doing that it’s going to put an end to our season at the wrong time.”

 

Bridgeport forced some turnovers of its own. Along with the second quarter fumble recovery, BHS also had an interception. Brent Sinsel picked up a highlight reel pick on a ball that bounced off the Keyser receiver. 

 

BHS will be off this coming Friday. The Tribe will wrap up their regular season Nov. 3 when they play host to Harrison County and Big 10 foe Lincoln at Jamison Field.

 

Bridgeport is 3-0 at home in the series and 5-2 in the overall series with Keyser. The Golden Tornado has been shutout in all three of their visits to Jamison Field.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Jake Bowen breaking off the first of two touchdown runs as his teammates begin to celebrate behind him, while in the second photo Jimmy Allison (74) and other linemen celebrate a first half touchdown run. In the third photo, Christian Olivio puts pressure on  Brady Ours and in the fourth picture, John Merica breaks up a Kesyer pass play. In the fifth picture, Coachh John Cole makes sure to get his point across to those on the field. In the bottom picture, Brent Sinsel comes up with the interception in the second quarter. Photos by Joey Signorelli and Ben Queen of www.benqueenphotography.com.