Class AAA No. 8 Spring Valley handed No.2 Bridgeport its first loss of the season with a 35-10 victory Friday night at Wayne Jamison Field.

And the biggest reason the Timberwolves prevailed is something that is somewhat of a rarity when it comes to BHS football – The Indians got outplayed up front.

 

Spring Valley’s offensive line that averages out a 6-foot-3, 266 pounds, with two Division I-bound tackles in Wyatt Milum (WVU) and Bryce Biggs (Marshall) as well as a 6-foot-5 tight end in Corbin Page that is being recruited by Oregon, was even better than advertised.

 

And it wasn’t just because of their size.

 

“It’s a lot more than just being bigger,” BHS coach John Cole said. “We’ve played big teams with players bigger than us. But (Spring Valley), they hit, they extend, they go to the football, their reads are good. Their big guys are functional. And when you are going up against that, it’s pretty tough to contend with.”

 

“We just got beat on the line. That’s a big, strong team. I think the last time they came up here (when Fairmont Senior defeated them 27-18) the only thing that happened was they got mad. I think they found their identity.

 

“Our kids played hard. We had a few fourth downs early in the game we couldn’t stop them. We couldn’t get any movement going on offense but that’s a good football team. We couldn’t move them up front, we had problems getting to the edges. We need our offense to move the ball and our defense to get stops and we didn’t do that.”

 

The loss snaps a 14-game win streak for the Indians, which was the longest current one in the state, since Spring Valley, which has appeared in three of the previous four Class AAA state title games, went on the road earlier this year and snapped Martinsburg’s 57-game win streak.

 

Prior to Friday night, the Indians’ most recent loss came to Fairmont Senior, 34-15 on Sept. 19, 2019. The loss to Spring Valley is also the first for Cole against a Class AAA foe and the first loss in the month of October.

 

Bridgeport took the opening kickoff and after a decent return from Derek Starkey, J.D. Love picked up a gain of 11 on the Indians’ first play from scrimmage. Love’s run ended up being the most yards the Tribe had on a single play in the first half.

 

The Timberwolves’ first drive started with more than 9 minutes left in the first quarter and ended on the first snap of the second. A total of 17 plays, capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by Brody Brumfield gave Spring Valley a 6-0 lead – the first deficit of the season for Bridgeport.

 

That opening drive was aided by two fourth-down conversions and a huge catch by Page on third-and-12. Page reeled in a Jack Roy pass across the middle, broke a couple of tackles and picked up 13 yards to keep the chains moving.

 

Spring Valley made it a two-possession game when Roy connected with Jace Caldwell for a 57-yard touchdown pass. Page reeled in a two-point conversion pass to make it 14-0.

 

Down just two scores at halftime, Bridgeport needed a strong defensive stand to start the third quarter but Spring Valley had other ideas.

The Timberwolves’ opening drive of the second half featured a heavy dose of Brumfield and Cole Diamond as each play of the nine-play 70-yard drive was a handoff to one of them. Diamond found the end zone on a 2-yard run to extend the lead to 21-0.

 

Diamond finished with 151 yards on 26 carries and a TD, while Brumfield had 87 yards on 12 carries with one TD.

 

Bridgeport avoided the shutout on the ensuing drive as it advanced past midfield for the first time. The Indians got into the red zone and settled for a 31-yard field goal from Austin Springer.

 

The Indians found the end zone for the only time on their next possession with Cam Cole connecting with Landyn Reppert for a 53-yard touchdown. Reppert now has three catches on the season, all have went for touchdowns.

 

Spring Valley tacked on two more TDS with a 16-yard TD run by Caldwell and a 17-yard touchdown pass from Roy to Page.

 

Bridgeport was held to 105 rushing yards. Hayden Moore had 29 yards on seven carries, while Cole had 25 yards on 10 attempts.

 

The Indians are scheduled to return to action next Friday with a second consecutive home game against a Mountain State Athletic Conference foe as Huntington will visit Wayne Jamison Field.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo features the offensive line for Spring Valley and the defensive line for Bridgeport. Second photo shows Hayden Moore recovering a fumble, while third photo shows Devin Hill making a stop on defense. Bottom photo is of Landyn Reppert on his way to the end zone for his third touchdown of the season.