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PBHS wins first game in new stadium

The Inter-Mountain photos by Tony Baisi Philip Barbour senior Hunter Mason blocks a Tucker defender Friday as junior Chase Collier takes off on one of several carries of the evening. Collier racked up more than 175 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns on the ground in the game.

PHILIPPI — Philip Barbour got over a hump Friday by defeating visiting Tucker County High School 35-6 for the football program’s first win ever on the newly installed surface at BC Bank Park.

The new George Byrer Field is now in its second year of use.

The Mountain Lions opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 12-yard pass and catch for a touchdown connection between quarterback Luke Poling and Ben Cromer. Philip Barbour newcomer Noah Price got through the protection and blocked the PAT for a 6-0 score in Tucker’s favor.

Hunter Mason made things level again on the ensuing PB possession when the Colts’ offensive line sprung him for a 36-yard blast up the middle, and he was off running into the northern end zone. Junior foreign-exchange student athlete Christopher Volberg went 5 out of 5 on point-after attempts on the night, and his first put Philip Barbour ahead 7-6 at the half.

“We played one good half of football overall,” PBHS coach Russ Collett said. “We still have a lot of things to work on and clean up. It was a big night with our Hall of Fame ceremonies and people who have played here in the past. We feel very fortunate that we could do this for them, as well as for ourselves as a young team.

Tucker County junior Ben Cromer finds paydirt to put the Mountain Lions on the board first Friday evening with a 12-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Luke Poling.

“We played a good half, but we’ve got to play a full game from my point of view,” he said. “This win was great for the school and great for the community, and that’s what we wanted to do tonight.”

On two different occasions, Tucker was knocking on the door inside the five yard line, but the Colts came up with a pair of goal line stands for turnovers on downs during crunch time. Notable plays for TCHS also included a fumble recovery by Byron Gidley in the first half.

The Colts manufactured a last-second scoring opportunity just before intermission was to begin when quarterback Damien Gonzales hit Noah Matlick up the right sideline for a 48-yard passing play putting PB at the TCHS 3-yard line with no timeouts left, and needing to spike the ball after the chains were set with 3 seconds left on the clock. A false start penalty foiled the hosts’ hopes as time ran out.

Junior Chase Collier finished up with more than 175 yards and 2 touchdowns in the rushing game on the night as he wove in and out of hash marks for positive yardage.

Logan Allen plunged in from 3 yards out to help make it 14-6 early on in the third period. Collier later ranup the sideline for a 43-yard TD.

Senior Hunter Gainer collected his second interception of the night. Collier then added a 9 yard TD scamper.

Matthew McCoy scooped up a punt while most everyone else was standing still, and took it across the goal line for PBHS for a 35-6 finish.

Philip Barbour (3-2) is set to host homecoming next week, with the Petersburg Vikings in Class AA non-conference action. Tucker County (2-3) will be on the road again next week at Southern Garrett, Maryland.

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