Whatever demons the Bridgeport football team may have had to face in their return to Alumni Field in Keyser this evening didn’t require a priest, holy water or a four leaf clover to exorcise. All that was needed was the Indians’ defense.

 

Returning to a field where in 2012 BHS was dealt two of its worst losses – regular and postseason – in recent memory, the Class AA No. 3 Indians manhandled No. 6 Keyser by a 31-6 score. Nicewarner admitted it certainly felt good to get the win in Mineral County.

 

“You don’t want to dwell on the past, but you don’t want to forget it either. We were more than happy to remind these guys about what happened two years ago and not to think about last year (a 41-0 BHS win),” said Nicewarner. “We had four or five seniors that played in both those games in 2012 and even though we didn’t use it as a sole motivator, we did hope the kids would try to come out and make a statement. We found out tonight that we’re a pretty good team.”

 

Pretty good may be an understatement. The Indians used every facet of their game – led by the defense – to turn a 7-0 halftime lead into what would turn into a 25-point victory.

 

The Indians were able to do a lot of their damage in the final 24 minutes thanks to better field position, a pound-it-out offense, huge plays by the special teams and a defense that simply wouldn’t allow Keyser to get its run game going for any part of the game. Although Keyser managed 142 yards passing, the Golden Tornado’s ground game had no wind. In fact, by game’s end Keyser had negative-11 yards rushing on 21 carries.

 

“What can you say, but the defense was pretty much lights out again and we needed that against a good Keyser team,” said Nicewarner.

 

Nursing a 7-0 lead, Bridgeport’s defense managed to force a quick three-and-out to start the third quarter and for the first time since the game’s opening drive, had good field position at its own 45. The Tribe would use an eight-play, 55-yard drive that methodically ate up the clock and ended when Mitchell Winkie rambled in from 15 yards away. Following the second of four successful Nick Strogen point-after kicks, it was 14-0 Bridgeport with 6:43 to play in the third.

 

Following another three and out that ended with Michael Gray getting one of four Bridgeport sacks, Mackenzie Holmes came through and partially blocked a punt to set BHS right back in great field position.

 

This time, the Indians started on their own 41-yard line and would need just seven plays to go the distance. But, it wasn’t easy. Quarterback Zack Spurlock kept it on a fourth-and-two play for six yards to keep the drive alive and to put him in position to make even more big play. Following the conversion on fourth down, Spurlock hit end Zach Bombardiere on a 23-yard pass play to put the ball at the KHS 2 and, two plays later, Spurlock kept it for six points and what would turn into a 21-0 lead with 1 minute to play in the third.

 

Following the score, Keyser made its only move of the game, but even that seemed shaky. A 60-yard pass play by quarterback Ryan Streets to Hunter Kasmier put the ball to the BHS 19-yard line. Eventually the BHS defense forced the Golden Tornado into a fourth-and-24, but Streets found end Michael Cuthbertson on a 32-yard scoring strike to make it 31-6 following a failed two-point conversion attempt. The touchdown pass came on the first play of the fourth quarter.

 

With the score 21-6 and the momentum now clearly in the corner of the hosts despite a botched onside kick, the prognosis was good as there was still more than 11 minutes to play. Things then looked even better as Keyser forced a three-and-out and seemed ready to make its move.

 

Unfortunately, the hosts had the Bridgeport defense to deal with. KHS never recovered from a sack on first down by Winkie and ended up having to punt after three plays. And it was here that BHS delivered a haymaker that Keyser never fully recovered from.

 

Although the punt was clean, it also was a punt that John Wilfong was able to easily return. And he did that – to the tune of a 65-yard punt return for a Bridgeport touchdown. The score, Wilfong’s first-ever varsity touchdown, put the Tribe up 28-6 with 8:25 to play.

 

“We set up a great return just like we’ve done in practice and John did a great job of doing what he was supposed to do,” said Nicewarner. “Special teams is a third of the game and it was huge for us in the second half; particularly how they kept us in check partially through their special teams in the first half.”

 

Wilfong helped seal the deal two plays later when he intercepted a Streets’ pass. The pick eventually led to a Strogen 29-yard field goal with 3:58 remaining and a 31-6 advantage. It would be the game’s final points.

 

By game’s end, Bridgeport didn’t have overwhelming numbers offensively, but it was more than enough on this night. The Tribe had 236 yards on 56 plays – all but 23 of which came on the ground. Dante Bonamico’s return to the lineup was huge as he finished with 121 yards on 26 carries after missing two straight games.

 

Spurlock also contributed on the ground. He finished with 61 yards rushing on 14 carries. The final numbers were in line with what both teams did in the first half.

 

The game’s first drive for Bridgeport would prove to be the only one of the first half for the Indians that didn’t start deep inside their own territory or wasn’t marred with penalties. And it would prove to be the only drive that would result in points.

 

BHS started at its own 30 following the opening kickoff and went to work in classic Bridgeport fashion. The Tribe pieced together an 11-play, 70-yard surge that was started and finished by Bonamico. Bonamico, who returned after recovering from an ankle and Achilles injury, carried the ball six times in the drive. Although the scoring run was big, it was a fourth-and-one run inside BHS territory by Elijah Drummond on the game’s fourth play that would be the biggest. Drummond plowed ahead for three yards and new life for the Indians.

 

The drive featured a pair of double digit runs – both by Bonamico. The first was a 23-yard burst that was aided by a Drummond pancake block and the second was a 16-yard surge up the gut untouched on a third-and-six play that resulted in the first half’s only touchdown. Following the Bonamico score with 6:17 showing on the first period clock, Strogen drilled the extra point for the 7-0 lead.

 

While Keyser couldn’t draw even, it would be Streets who made sure the Indians wouldn’t add to their advantage. And he didn’t do it with his arm.

 

Streets would manage to move the Golden Tornado for limited yardage thanks to completing 4-of-8 passes for 46 yards. But, it was Streets’ punting that kept the Indians at bay.

 

Just how strong was his punting? Streets had three punts in the first half and all three of them pinned the Tribe inside their own 10-yard line. The first punt put BHS back at its own 8, the second punt left Bridgeport literally inside the 1-yard line, while the final punt of the first half left Bridgeport starting at its own 3-yard line.

 

“Quite frankly, I’ve never had any punter do that to me since I’ve been coaching. He just got the ball rolling where it needed to be. Heck, I liked to take that kid to the race track with me,” Nicewarner joked. “That was a problem for us in the first have and, honestly, I decided to go back under center because I was nervous being that close to the end zone and with them having so many guys in the box. Those kicks and penalties, some of which I wasn’t too sure about, really hurt us in the first half.”

 

Bridgeport did manage to move the ball slowly following the final two punts, but saw the penalties Nicewarner talked about on both drives kill any hopes of a drive that could have dropped the enthusiasm of the capacity crowd. Instead, the Tribe settled for the touchdown advantage at the break.

 

While Bridgeport was struggling with field position, Keyser couldn’t take advantage of what it was given following two Tribe punts. Keyser began its second drive at the Bridgeport 45 and its third drive at its own 43, but had nothing to show for it.

 

The reason for the Golden Tornado futility was the BHS defense. Once again, the Tribe’s defense showed up big time in the first half and pitched its fourth first half shutout in four games.

 

Incredibly, Keyser had 18 plays for 55 yards and almost no yards rushing. KHS carried the ball 10 times for just nine yards in the first two periods.

 

Bridgeport had 137 yards on 29 plays; 27 of which were on the ground. Bonamico finished the first two periods with 88 yards on 16 runs. Spurlock added 41 yards on six runs in the opening half.

 

“It’s hard to single anyone out because everyone played well. It was an all-around team win,” said Nicewarner. “We got things we needed from every aspect of the game.”

 

BHS will be back in action next Friday against North Marion. It will be senior night as it is the Indians’ final home game. Bridgeport will follow that with an open week and road games against Fairmont Senior and Preston, respectively, to close out the campaign.

 

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