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Weir came up empty against No. 1 Fairmont

FIGHTING FORWARD — Weir High’s Elijah Gillette tries to break free from a Fairmont Senior tackler during Friday’s game at Jimmy Carey Stadium. - Michael D. McElwain

WEIRTON — Going into Friday night’s game with unbeaten and top-ranked Fairmnt Senior, Weir High football coach Tony Filberto listed as one of his keys to victory that the Red Riders had to get some sustained drives and keep the ball out of the hands of Polar Bear talented junior quarterback Gage Michael.

Weir High did that to a certain extent, but when the drives penetrated into Polar Bear territory, they fizzled and the Red Riders were unable to score. Fairmont Senior extended it’s winning streak to 20 in the 33-0 win at Jimmy Carey Stadium.

“We played poorly in the first half defensively. We missed a lot of tackles when they got out in space. But offensively, I thought we moved the ball very well,” said Filberto, whose club dropped to 3-4. “Three times we were down in the vicinity of their 20 and we gave them the ball back. We made some mental mistakes, some physical mistakes. You can’t do that against a team like Fairmont Senior.”

The Polar Bears won the toss to begin the game and wanted to receive the football. There was a reason coach Nick Bartic did that as his defending state champions quickly scored in just four plays. Michael dashed through the middle for the first of four touchdowns that he had a hand in during the first half. His offensive line opened a hole in the center of the Red Rider defense at the Weir High 43 and Michael had no trouble finding it. When the Red Riders successfully defended a pass for the two-point conversion, the Polar Bears had a 6-0 lead only 56 seconds into the game.

Weir High put the ensuing kickoff into play at their own 36 and methodically drove to the Senior 21-yard line where senior quarterback Sebastian Spencer’s pass was intercepted in the end zone by Polar Bear sophomore defensive back, Kayson Nealy, in the end zone.

Fairmont Senior got the ball at the Weir High 20 and quickly drove the 80 yards for another score with Michael hitting Camden Longwell with a 14-yard pass down the middle of the field. A Frankie Smith kick for the extra point made it 13-0

A Red Rider drive fizzled on their next possession and senior Elijah Gillette kicked the first of his six punts in the game. After a holding penalty on the Michael return, the Polar Bears put the ball back to their 23, the visitors went on another scoring march. This one ended with Michael powering his way to pay dirt from the four making the score 20-0 early in the second quarter.

The Red Riders went on the march again when Brodie McUmar got loose on the kickoff return from his own 10 to the Fairmont 49. This drive made it to the Polar Bear 17 in nine plays. Freshman running back Jamari Bass the leading Weir High ground gainer with 47 yards, had an 11-yard scamper to get the drive going.

After four straight Spencer runs got the ball to the Fairmont 17, the lanky senior began scrambling on a third-and-eight play. He couldn’t find a receiver and threw a desperation pass out of bounds resulting in an intentional grounding penalty that moved the ball all the way back to the Fairmont 47. That forced another Gillette punt that was downed at the Polar Bear 23.

Spencer, who spent a good portion of the second half on the sideline after a third quarter hit in his back, completed 5 of 9 passes for 23 yards and ran with the ball 10 times for 32 yards. Gillette was the favorite target for Spencer and junior quarterback, Anthony DiMatteis, who completed two of 8 aerials. Gillette snagged six of the seven total receptions for 45 yards. Bass caught the other on a swing pass good for seven yards.

Fairmont Senior stuck quickly again. Michael found senior Jacob Gomolak open three times in the drive with the final time being a 13-yard touchdown toss on a crossing pattern. That gave Fairmont a 27-0 lead with 5:10 left in the second quarter.

The final Polar Bear scored came 21 seconds before the first half ended after another Gillette punt was downed at the Fairmont 39. The Weir High defense stopped Senior and the visitors went into punt formation from their own 46, but Smith tucked the ball and raced to the Red Rider 39 for a first down. Racing the clock, Fairmont went from there to the end zone in four plays with Longwell blasting into the end zone from four yards out. That armed the Polar Bears with a commanding 33-0 lead.

The Red Rider defense stiffened in the second half but the offense couldn’t get anything going.

“We tackled a lot better in the second half and that made a big difference,” Filberto said. “You know, the score was 0-0 in the second half.”

Filberto said his post game talk to his team huddled around him on the field was about looking ahead and being optimistic.

“You know, we all worry about the end of the season and where we’re going to be in the playoff rankings,” he said. “We don’t know, but I think, with our schedule, 6-4 might get us in. But I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about playing Edison next week and these kids know that. When we won games, they put that game away and came out Monday preparing for the next game. You have to do it with a loss and you have to do it with a win.”

The Red Riders travel next Friday to Edison in a renewal of a rivalry. It will be the final away game as they return home the following week for homecoming against East Liverpool and finish at Jimmy Carey Stadium with the traditional rivalry against Brooke.

Fairmont Senior 33, Weir High 0

Fairmont Sr 13 20 0 0 33

Weir High 0 0 0 0 0

FS: Michael 43 run (pass failed)

FS: Longwell 14 pass from Michael (Smith kick)

FS: Michael 4 run (Smith kick)

FS: Gomolak 13 pass from Michael (Smith kick)

FS: Longwell 4 run (kick blocked)

RUSHING: Fairmont Senior 25-189-3td (Longwell 2-16, Cottingham 3-9, Toothman 6-79, Nealy 1-4-td, Stingo 1-(-5), Michael 12-86); Weir High: 38-106 (Yobaggy 2-(-6), DiMatteis 5-7, Curtis 6-20, Bass 15-47, Spencer 10-32.

PASSING: Fairmont Senior 14-26-252-2td (all by Michael); Weir High 7-17-52-int (Spencer 5-9-23-int, DiMatteis 2-8-29).

RECEIVING: Fairmont Senior Nealy 3-34, Longwell 1-14-td, Smith 4-94, Gomolak 4-77-td, Cottingham 1-(-2), Brophy 1-28; Weir High Gillette 6-6-45, Bass 1-7.

FIRST DOWNS: Fairmont Senior 15; Weir High 9.

FUMBLES-LOST: Fairmont Senior 1-0; Weir High 0-0.

PENALTIES: Fairmont Senior 10-100; Weir High 5-40.

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