Weir High’s ground game rolls at home
Red Riders pull away for a big win on senior night
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WEIRTON -- Often times a coach will talk about needing a player or players to step up when the situation calls for it.
Weir High coach Frank Sisinni was in such a situation on Friday night at Jimmy Carey Stadium.
After a wild start to the game and starting quarterback Malachi Stromile leaving the game with an injury following the Red Riders first possession, Sisinni and company had to turn to the ground game to carry the load -- and the combo of senior Jamari Hubard-Bass and junior Deshjuan Smith were more than up to the task.
Hubbard-Bass racked up 167 yards and two scores, while Smith went for 146 and two TDs of his own to lead the Red Riders to a 41-19 win over visiting Albert Gallatin on senior night.
"It's great to win like this for these seniors," Sisinni said. "The ground game was there all night. Deshjuan was special. He's got that shifty running style; he sees a little crease and makes you pay. Jamari brought the energy we needed from a senior in that situation, too."
Weir High, now 5-3, racked up 326 yards as a whole on the ground, only throwing the ball five times in the game.
"Our line did a great jo and Jamari and Deshjuan were tremendous," Sisinni said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Malachi."
Stromile left the stadium in an abulance after taking a hard hit at the end of a run.
While the ground game allowed the Red Riders to pull away, the defense yielded just seven first downs, five of which were in the second half after the game was all but decided, and just one offensive score by the Colonials (2-5) late in the fourth quarter (Albert Galltin's other scores were on defense and special teams score). Weir also had an interception, recovered a fumble and blocked a punt for a touchdown.
"We played some really good defense," Sisinni said. "We limited them. Our defensive line really stepped up as well. We were good up front on both sides of the ball; it was a good night for those guys in the trenches."
The start of the game was wild, as the Colonials took a 6-0 lead on a Markel Darnell 71-yard fumble return, which was immediately answered by a Devan Colson 91-yard kick return to make it 7-6 Red Riders.
Smith scored on a 26-yard run to extend the lead to 14-6 after the first quarter, then Hubbard-Bass plowed in from the 1 and Smith added a 33-yard scoring run to push the advantage to 28-6 at the half.
"It started a little bit uneasy, but we stayed with it and it turned into the kind of game we wanted to play," Sisinni said. "We stayed even keel through all the chaos.
Damarr Turner returned a blocked punt 29 yards to score in the third quarter, then Hubbard-Bass added his second score on a 29-yard run.
"We couldn't slow them down, they have a lot of athletes and a lot of big boys," Albert Gallatin head coach Drew Dindl said. "We missed some tackles, but Weir has a solid team. We had some momentum going early, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot. That's been the season for us.
"They had a better gameplan than we did and we didn't execute."
SENIOR FARWELL
In the fourth quarter, Sisinni used a timeout to bring the seniors off the field together.
"To send off Cam Jones, Damarr Turner, Gage Hawkins, Kanye Green and Jamari Hubbard-Bass like that is special," Sisinni said. "It's a tradition here to do that on a timeout to let us acknowledge them and them acknowledge the crowd. It's always special to see that because you don't always get to do it. It was a nice sendoff."
UP NEXT
The Red Riders have another key game in their hunt for a playoff spot when they travel to East Liverpool next Friday.
"Now we're on the road for another big one," Sisinni said. "They're a hard-nosed program, it's going to be a battle. We're going to enjoy this one for a short amount of time and get back to work."
Weir High 41, Albert Gallatin 19
Albert Gallatin 6-0-6-7 – 19
Weir High 14-14-13-0 – 41
SCORING
First Quarter
AG: Darnell 71 fumble return (run failed) 10:50
WH: Colson 91 kick return (Howard kick) 10:36
WH: Smith 26 run (Howard kick) 1:27
Second Quarter
WH: Hubbard-Bass 1 run (Howard kick) 3:26
WH: Smith 33 run (Howard kick) 1:43
Third Quarter
WH: Turner 29 blocked punt return (run failed) 8:07
AG: Darnell 75 kick return (run failed) 7:51
WH: Hubbard-Bass 29 run (Howard kick) :36
Fourth Quarter
AG: Darnell 9 run (Bowers kick) 2:42
RUSHING: Albert Gallatin 30-152-TD (Bowers 6-28; Guseman 8-5; Darnell 15-108; Pegg 1-11); Weir High 52-326-4TD (Stromile 2-(-20); Hubbard-Bass 25-167-2TD; Smith 18-146-2TD; Hawkins 2-13; Mowder 1-0; Shuble 1-2; Williams 3-18)
PASSING: Albert Gallatin 0-7-0-INT (Guseman 0-6; Larkin 0-1-INT); Weir High 1-4-3 (Stromile 0-1; Mowder 1-3-3)
RECEIVING: Albert Galltin 0-0; Weir High 1-3 (all by Smith)
FIRST DOWNS: Albert Gallatin 7; Weir High 16
PENALTIES-YARDS: Albert Gallatin 6-30; Weir High 9-75
FUMBLES-LOST: Albert Gallatin 3-2; Weir High 2-1
PUNTS-AVG: Albert Gallatin 4-28.8; Weir High 2-44