It was billed as the Class AA contest of the week. Unfortunately for Keyser, it was no contest.

 

Bridgeport not only dominated from start to finish in a 28-7 win but ended one of the most impressive streaks in recent high school football memory by the Golden Tornado who had not allowed a point since week one of the season. That streak and Keyser’s undefeated season ended in brutal fashion in a game even more lopsided than the statistics and final score would indicate.

 

The No. 4-ranked Indians dominated defensively, offensively and on special teams to move to 8-1 on the year with the win against the third-ranked Golden Tornado.

 

“I’m really happy for our kids and I’m really happy for our coaches,” said BHS Coach John Cole. “These guys have been preparing hard and these guys have practiced hard. They deserved this opportunity and took advantage of it.

 

“Coach (Adam) King had a heck of a plan for defense and Coach (Tyler) Phares had a heck of a plan for offense,” Cole continued. “The bottom line is that our kids have experience and our kids have worked hard in the offseason and played hard … Our kids earned every ounce of that.”

 

Indeed, they did.

 

The streak of scoreless quarters would end, and it would end quickly. Bridgeport won the toss and opted to take the kickoff. The decision paid off in spades as the BHS special teams were also ready to play.

 

Bridgeport would soon begin a run of three scoring drives that all started inside Keyser territory. As for the first, it started when Sam Romano returned the kickoff 27 yards to the Keyser 46 and the Indians were immediately in business. As it turned out, it was old-school BHS business.

 

The Tribe lined up in the stick-I and pounded the Golden Tornado play after play. Going almost exclusively up the gut, the Indians used 15 plays to cover the 46 yards with the scoring drive culminating on a Trey Pancake one-yard run with 4:13 to go in the first quarter.

 

The Austin Springer point-after kick, the first of four straight, made it 7-0. The touchdown also ended the Keyser streak of 26 straight quarters and six straight games of not allowing a single point going back into August when Robert C. Byrd scored in the second quarter of the season-opening game.

 

“That was really important, but honestly the streak … we concentrated on us,” said Cole. “We concentrated on doing little things right and being fundamental. That’s what our kids did.”

 

Bridgeport would end up getting all the points it would need early. In fact, the scoreless streak would take a beating as the touchdown early wouldn’t be the only first half points allowed. After forcing a quick three-and-out on the guest’s first possession, Bridgeport got the ball back once again in excellent field position as a shanked punt put the Tribe at the Keyser 44.

 

This time it would take six plays to cover the distance. And it would be Carson Winkie, who was a first half workhorse, doing the honors.

 

Winkie went over the right side of the line and raced 22 yards for the touchdown The Springer point-after made it 14-0 with 26.7 seconds showing in the first quarter.

 

Before Keyser could regroup, disaster struck again. On the ensuing kickoff, the Golden Tornado fumbled, and Kameron Nelson was there to gobble up the loose ball at the Keyser 33-yard line.

 

Seven plays later, Bridgeport was back in the end zone. Winkie once again did the honors as he went in untouched from one yard to culminate a seven-play drive that led to a 21-0 lead after the kick with 8:38 to go before halftime.

 

Winkie’s status of workhorse wasn’t hyperbole. He carried the ball 22 times for 93 yards in the first two quarters. He led a Bridgeport offense that needed just 147 yards to get its three-touchdown lead at the half.

 

Of that total, 120 yards came on the ground. The rest of the yardage came on a Devin Vandergrift pass that was hauled in by Romano on an incredible over-the-should catch for 27 yards on a big third-down play. Although no points resulted after the catch, it allowed Bridgeport to punt from near midfield and thwart any last-second first half scoring hopes of the Golden Tornado.

 

Keyser managed just 15 plays in the first half. The results weren’t impressive with just 48 yards.

 

“The defense was outstanding,” said Cole.

 

That defense, and the offense, did pretty much all that was needed to be done to start the second half. With Keyser coming out determined to turn the game around, Bridgeport instead managed to force a quick three-and-out.

 

And on the Indians’ first possession of the second, the hosts essentially iced it.

 

Bridgeport scored on its only point-producing drive starting in its own territory by using a 10-play, 76-yard surge that ate up clock and culminated on a 4-yard touchdown run by Winkie with 4:52 showing on third quarter clock. The senior bulled his way for 119 yards on 29 carries with three touchdowns on the evening.

 

“He runs a little straight up and down and it sort of worries you sometimes,” said Cole with a smile. “He’s one of the few players that would say is the senior heart and soul. He’s one heck of a competitor and those are the guys you lean on.”

 

It appeared the game would end in a shutout for Bridgeport as the Tribe had Keyser pinned deep with under two minutes to play. However, Zion Powell has other ideas as he broke free – and ran over a Bridgeport defender along the way – for a 77-yard score with 1:16 to play. The Seth Earnest point-after kick would be the final points of the game.

 

Just how good was the defense? Without the late run, KHS (leading all of Class AA in scoring) would have finished with just 90 yards rushing – and total offense as it did not have any passing yardage. The team averaged just 2.4 yards per carry not counting the long run. With the run, Keyser finished with 167 yards of offense on 38 carries (4.4 yards per carry).

 

“As simple as it sounds, they lined up correctly,” said King on what worked for his defense.

 

And then he piled on perhaps the biggest praise possible.

 

“That was the best (defensive) games we’ve played here in probably four or five years; maybe one of the championship teams. It was an unbelievable defensive performance,” said King.

 

The offense finished with 249 yards with 222 of it coming on the ground. Along with Winkie, Pancake had a solid ground game with 63 yards on 14 carries.

 

Bridgeport is off next Friday but returns the following week to close out the season with Philip Barbour. Keyser will return home to host Mountain Ridge out of Maryland.

 

The BHS game is set for 7 p.m.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Carson Winkie breaking off his 22-yard touchdown run, while Michael Watkins (right) and Hayden Moore (left) haul down a Keyser runner in the second photo. In the third picture, JT Muller runs down Keyser's speedy quarterback Ryan Shoemaker from behind. In the fourth picture, Sam Romano makes an acrobatic second quarter catch and that photo is followed by Landyn Reppert forcing a turnover on a kickoff return. In the sixth photo, Trey Pancake (40) celebrates his first half touchdown with Devin Vandergrift (9). In the bottom photo, Coach John Cole works with his team on the sidelines. Photos by Ben Queen of Joey Signorelli of www.benqueenphotography.com.