It’s been a long season for the Berkeley Springs Indians full of ups and downs. Coming off a season in which they made it to the second round of the state playoffs, it was a bit of a letdown as they struggled to a 3-6 record coming into the game against the Hedgesville Eagles. The Eagles themselves were having a down year as they had only recently picked up their first win the two weeks ago against Hampshire (they had their bye week 10/31). Could the Indians salvage a decent record with a win or would the Eagles grab their second win in as many games?
The first 12 minutes of the game seemed a bit like last week for the Indians, a scoreless tie. Some points of interest was an interception by the Eagles David Sowell. It came on the Indians first possession of the game, just a minute into the game. Indians quarterback Matt Colwell dropped back to pass and wanted to go deep. Only problem was, the only person within a mile of the pass was Sowell. Fortunately for the Indians they were able to bring him down a few yards later and didn’t surrender any points. The Indians highlight came at the 6:44 mark.
Ben Griffith made everyone think that former Mountaineer and current Seattle Seahawk, Owen Schmitt had donned the blue and gold for the Indians. On a sweep to the right, Griffith hurdled the defender and ran for a couple yards. Griffith would have a decent game running for 34 hard earned yards on 12 carries.
In the second quarter, the Eagles did their damage. At the 4:49 mark, Anthony Vanorsdale took a hand off into the endzone from two yards out to cap a 77 yard drive. On the ensuing kickoff, Berkeley Springs’ Kyle Baxter fumbled the ball which was recovered by Mike Walters for Hedgesville. While the Eagles were held out of the endzone, they did manage a very important 31 yard field goal from Walters to make it 10-0.
Let’s skip the third quarter because it was nothing but defense and head to the fourth. The Indians did get on the board as Dylan Mason scored on a two yard run to cut the score to 10-7. On the Eagles ensuing possession, Vanorsdale fumbled the ball with Alex Lake recovering for the Indians at the Eagles 46 yard line. The Indians faithful who had made the trip down Route Nine were beginning to think that the Indians were going to pull out another dramatic win. However, with two minutes left, Bryan Mohler got in front of Indian receiver Josh Kelly to make the interception. Giving the ball back to the Eagles signaled the end of the game for the Tribe as the Eagles, after running a play or two, got into the victory formation to seal the deal.
I’m not going to do a breakdown on what I think the Indians did or didn’t do. One big reason, it’s the end of the season. Another reason is that I put together a highlight reel of sorts for this ballgame and want to get to that. So here it is, running time is 1:27. Enjoy!
As a closing note, I’m hoping to get together a season recap posted up here. Look for it around next Friday or sometime there abouts as I’m planning something kind of special for that one. Can you say a VIDEO BLOG? I’m not sure how basketball season will go on here as I’m going to be playing that one by ear. Either way, it’s going to get up here and hopefully, we’ll have a guest columnist to give his views of a ballgame or two.
