The Eagles of Clark County came into Morgan Field coming off a 9 and 3 season that saw them reach the Virginia state playoffs. Clark County’s offense runs a wing formation, meaning that there are no receivers wide. Instead, all the players are bunched up at the line of scrimmage. This formation caused huge problems for the Indians.

Immediately after receiving the opening kickoff, the Eagles started the rout. On the third play of the game, Grant Shaw broke free for a 55 yard run to put the Clark County up 8-0. After a three and out by the Indians, the Eagles got the ball back. Sam Shiley ran for 41 yards putting the Eagles up 16-0. Zach Shiley added a seven yard scamper to extend the lead to 24-0.

In the second quarter, the Eagles continued their dominance. Shaw again made a splash with a 31 yard scoring romp that put the score at 31-0. Sam Shiley added a two yard dive to go up 38-0. The final points came on a 41 yard Zach Shiley pass to Parks. The final score was Clark County 45, Berkeley Springs 0.

The Eagles ran for 421 yards, 337 of those coming in the first half. The Indians defense could not stop the Eagles wing offense. When the Eagles got the snap, they would either hand off to Sam Shiley, Rhoads, Shaw, or a QB keeper with Zach Shiley. This confusion in the backfield along with some great blocking by the Eagle offensive line was too much for an inexperienced Indians defense.

The Indian offense sputtered out of the gate, but as the game went on, the offense warmed up. The leading offensive player was Max Langenstein who ran for 42 yards. The Indians debuted a new quarterback sophomore Zach White, and yes he wore number five.

Being a sophomore, White had a few obvious jitters. He had three completions on 13 attempts, and of those in completions most were over thrown and a couple where the receiver slipped coming back to the ball. On one play in the game, Zach channeled another kid named White… Patrick. There, the a play broke down when the Eagles defense plowed through the Indians line. Zach, looked for a receiver, and when he didn’t see one, took off for a couple yards. White mimicked WVU great Patrick White stunning cuts and moves avoiding defenders. Zach White is a sophomore and has the next three years to grow to make his name and number as memorable to Indian fans as Patrick did for Mountaineer fans.

The Indians next game is at home against the South Hagerstown Rebels. This series is gradually becoming a good rivalry sitting at one win apiece. This game should be closer seeing as the Indians have faced the Rebels for the last two years and have a good idea what to expect. Keep in mind, we go on the air at 7:06 with kickoff at 7:30. We’ll see you there!

edit 8/26/09: Follow us on Twitter also, wcstsports on Twitter.

We’re going to be able to do a little more when bringing you the Indians football games. We’ll be bringing you live play-by-play as usual, but also live updates on here (providing we can get a wireless signal from the providers in town) and also, if I can remember to actually do it, possibly have an IM type thing going on. That way we could do a trivia thing where someone can IM the response to us or possibly get a discussion going on during either pregame, halftime, or postgame. Right now everything is in the infancy stages seeing as I’m coming up with this stuff off the top of my head. Again, this is just in the infancy stages and things could change between now and football season.

What more could you ask for in a team? These young women came together and fought tough and hard to win 19 games… a career high for Coach McCumbee. They showed what a power they could be. Sure they ended up with six losses, two loss came against two teams made the West Virginia State Tournament – East Hardy (#7 in the A bracket) and Martinsburg (#4 in the AAA bracket). But we won’t stay on the losses… we look at wins.

While the ladies beat the likes of Hedgesville, Musselman, and Petersburg among others, Frankfort is THE team they needed to beat. The Indians took one on the chin on December 12 against Frankfort, but came back on January 24 to avenge that loss, and again in sectional play in what can only be described as a team effort win. In the February 27 match-up, the Indians traveled to a hostile Frankfort in the Region 2, Section II title game. In what can only be described as a poorly officiated game for both teams, the Indians found themselves down early. In the fourth quarter, the girls got down 12, but through tough play and making their foul shots (not to mention poor foul shooting by Frankfort) the Indians were able to stay in the game. Lesley Yost hit a three to tie the game at 56-56, but a foul on the other end a few seconds later put the Falcons up 57-56. However, with five seconds to go in the game, Jessica Haynes was fouled. Making the first shot to tie the game at 57 all, she had one more shot coming… and made it! 58-57 the Indians led. The ball was inbounded, but play was halted after the clock failed to start. The officials got together and put three seconds on the clock. On the inbound Shauni Stevens stole the ball and held on to it to secure the win.

That win set up the Region 2 championship against Braxton County, which the Indians won going away. Freshman phenom Deidre Burch dropped a career high 33 on the Eagles to lead the way. With this win, the Indians solidified their spot in Charleston.

The Indians took on number three seeded Lincoln in the first round. The Indians ran out to a big lead, but Lincoln was much to strong for the Indians. The Cougars clawed their way back to take a lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Backed by a 26 point effort from Chelsea Holcomb and a team total 10 three pointers (which tied a A/AA state tourney record), the Lincoln High School Cougars soundly defeated the Indians 87-60. The Indians were led by Amber Booher’s 22 points and 14 boards. The loss ends the Indians season with a 19-6 record

Congratulations to the Indians on a hell of a season! Unfortunately it didn’t end the way everyone wanted it to. This team will always be remembered in Berkeley Springs High School sports memory as a team full of fighters with strong leadership and gritty players. It was a pleasure to broadcast their games this year and for the seniors, their career. Thank you ladies for some great games and wonderful memories. Good luck in the next step of your lives Amber Booher, Rebecca Trump, Shauni Stevens, and Maddy Parrill. To the rest of the team… enjoy the off season and we’ll see you next season!

As manners dictate, we’ll start with the ladies first. Coach Dale McCumbee is in his 19th year as the head coach of the Lady Indians. Over the past 18 years, the span from the 2004-05 to the current team has been the winningest stretch of his career 64-32 (as of 1/30/09). The 2007-08 season had a few firsts for Coach McCumbee: first trip to the state tournament and first technical. The team he had last year had some of the best talent he’s ever had, and because of graduation, McCumbee only lost two players from last year’s squad and another because of a transfer. Three key players from last year return from the state tournament team: two seniors – one coming back from an injury that kept her out for the majority of the year – and a junior.

The two seniors, Rebecca Trump and Amber Booher were big threats last year. Booher was a threat both scoring and rebounding. I don’t have her stats from last year, but from what I remember, she was a threat whenever she had the ball. Trump missed the majority of the season due to an injury she suffered during the soccer season. When she did come back, albeit with a little hesitation, she was a threat from behind the arc and defensively. The junior Jess Haynes, last year was a firecracker on defense. She was there and played hard. She was a scoring threat as well. This year, these three young ladies are coming together to produce one of the hardest playing teams in the area and they aren’t alone. They have welcomed two freshmen, yes FRESHMEN, to the line-up and these two are quality players.

Deidra Burch and Harlie Stotler are big pieces in the team that Coach McCumbee sends out on the floor each night. While they may only be freshmen, they play like upperclassmen. Burch is a guard who is the extension of the coach on the floor. She runs the team almost to perfection. Stotler is the big girl who is there for the boards. She’s not afraid to mix it up underneath and battle for the rebound and not afraid to put the ball back up after an offensive rebound.

The Lady Indians aren’t just limited to those five young ladies. The supporting cast is just as important. You have the likes of senior Shauni Stevens, juniors Alyssa Spielman and Lesley Yost, and others who rotate between varsity and junior varsity coming off the bench to provide a different look for the Indians every so often. Coach McCumbee said before the Petersburg game on January 21 that the girls he has on this team put the team first and hasn’t heard any complaints about playing time. These girls that are on the bench know where they fit into the system and are happy to be there.

Now, on to the important stuff… STATS! Booher leads the team in scoring averaging 15 points a game. In the last game we did, the previously mentioned Petersburg game, she had a game high 19 points. The big thing with that 19 points was she was perfect from the foul line, I think three for three. Her worst game of the year pointwise was a meager eight against Jefferson in the second game of the year, but the whole team struggled in that game.

Under the glass Amber Booher is again the team leader. She has a total of an even 100 boards (46 offensive, 54 defensive) on the year. Stotler is a distant second with a total of 54 and Burch nipping at her heels in third with 51. The rebounding for the Indians has drastically improved. They are going hard after the ball and being very aggressive to get the board.

A new name pops up when it comes to assists. Jess Haynes leads the team with 34. Burch and Booher are right behind her with 33 and 32 assists respectively. The ball movement that these girls have is almost on par with a John Beilein type team. They move the ball until someone can get the shot and always find the open player. It may seem that the assist numbers are low, but the way these girls play, most of their points come from the defensive play.

I’ve been doing ballgames on WCST for about four years. Over that time I don’t think I’ve seen a Berkeley Springs team play this awesome a defense in basketball. The Lady Indians play a pressure defense that causes confusion among the other team and creates the bad shot, a turnover, or a steal. Right now, the Indians have 182 steals. Diedra Burch leads the team with 50 steals. This girl hustles and can sneak around her man and just swipe the ball from them. Booher also gets in on the thievery with her 43 take aways. All-in-all, no matter who is in the lineup for the Indians are playing sound defense.

This team as of January 22, 2009 sits at 9-4. The only losses of the season coming from Jefferson, Frankfort, Southern Fulton, and Martinsburg. In the Jefferson and Martinsburg games, the Indians led at halftime, but couldn’t hold the lead and ended up getting blown out. In the Southern Fulton game, Berkeley Springs ran into another really good Indians team and just couldn’t stick the win. I wasn’t at the game, but from what I understand, it was closer than the JHS and MHS games. Frankfort is always a tough team no matter the record. The Indians went up to Short Gap for that game, but get revenge on January 24 at home. Come out to that game and support Indians. Treat it like a gold-out that WVU usually does. Wear your gold/yellow sweat shirt – WVU or BSHS, it doesn’t matter! Of course you can listen to the game on WCST if you can’t make it to the high school.

Stats are from maxpreps.com

** Thanks to Coach McCumbee for setting me straight on the winning seasons. I apologize for the mistake!**
**some calculations in stats have changed between edits. Click the above link for up to date stats**

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.

The game started out as a defensive ballgame. The first couple possessions for both teams were played between the 40s. The Manassas Park defense stopped the running attack from the Indians and likewise the Indians defense did the same to the Cougar running game. At the end of the first quarter, the game was in a scoreless tie. I have to give it to both teams. The first quarter was a played really well. As a football fan, this was the quarter for you.

In the second quarter, Berkeley Springs got something going. Deep in Cougar territory (about the seven yard line), the Indians seemed set to score an easy touchdown. However, Keith Grand of Manassas Park had other ideas.

Grand read Matt Colwell’s eyes and stepped in front of the intended receiver and intercepted the pass. Grand took the interception back 30 yards and set the stage for the first score of the game. With just under three and a half minutes to go in the second quarter, Donavon Johnson hit Cody Griffith with a 26 yard touchdown pass to give the Cougars a seven to nothing lead going into the half. Late in the second quarter, in should be pointed out, Colwell threw another interception to Corey Swanson. That pick equaled his season total.

The third quarter was like the first – a defensive battle. Colwell threw his third interception, this one coming as he was running towards the endzone. From our vantage point, it seemed like he was trying for an option pass, but threw to the wrong person, that person being Chau Nguyen of Manassas Park. Colwell also coughed up the ball that Kenny Moore recovered for Manassas Park. The Indians also had an interception of their own as Alex Spielman grabbed a Johnson pass. Spielman wasn’t done though as we’ll see in the fourth quarter.

The Indians finally got on the board when Ben Griffith took off on a 14 yard run. That score tied the game at seven all. With 3:01, the Speilman stopped another Cougar drive picking off Johnson once again. That pick put any dampers on any scoring thoughts the Cougars had. Eventually, the Cougars would get the ball back and with just over a minute to go in the game, give it right back to the Indians.

Matt Colwell lead the Indians down the field on a passing frenzy that included a big pass to tight end Zech Turner that put the Indians within field goal range. After that play, the Indians ran one play to try to straighten out the field goal. Manassas Park stopped the run, so the Indians let clock run to two seconds when the they called their final timeout. The field goal unit headed onto the field only to have Manassas Park coach David Coccoli call a timeout to freeze Indian kick Josh Wise.

After the timeout, the field goal unit headed back out onto the field and Josh Wise took his steps back to get into place for a 39 yard attempt. The holder called the signals, the snap came back, the holder put the ball down Wise ran up for the kick, it’s up and… IT’S GOOD!! Time had expired and the Indians are in the win column!

“The line did a good job, the hold was perfect,” Wise said after the ball game. “I did what I got to do for them. They played a hell… heck of a game before that!” I couldn’t agree more Josh!

This was a game that was fun to do. Both teams fought hard and in the end, Josh Wise made the biggest kick of his career to win the game. The Indians defense played the hard nose, do your job type defense that will make them scary dangerous next year. The offense made some great gains in terms of the offensive line’s blocking as well as the running game.

Manassas Park, as they walked off the field, was hanging their heads. I honestly don’t think they should have been holding their heads. They played a damn good ballgame and have some talented kids playing for them. One kid Brandon Livingston is one player who could very well be playing on Saturdays next year. He’s got the height and speed to make it at the next level. I wish him the best wherever he plays!

This was also the last home game for the seniors. At this time I’d like to note those young men (in numerical order): Josh Wise, Mike Wallace, Kyle Baxter, Matt Colwell, Dylan Kraft, Dillion Lechliter, Brian Distler, Alex Spielman, Ben McCumbee, Tommy Malone, Zech Turner, Joey Hansroth, and Andrew Omerzo.

Next Friday, the Indians travel to Hedgesville to take on the Eagles. The Eagles have had a tough go of it this year only winning one game. Game time is at 7:30 and we’ll be on the air at 7:15 with pregame. We hope to see you at Hedgesville. If you can’t make it down Rt. 9 for the game, don’t forget that we’re on AM 1010 WCST.

Let me get this out of the way, Kettle Run is a young team. There are no seniors on the roster, with 13 juniors, 26 sophomores, and four freshman. With that roster, you know there are going to be growing pains. In talking to the coach before the game, of the seven teams they have played prior to the Berkeley Springs contest, one team has one loss and another has two. Next year, this team will be a year older and have a year’s experience and will be a pretty good team. Now, let’s get to the game.

The first quarter saw the Indians move the ball extremely well and with a familiar face under center: Matt Colwell. At the 7:16 mark, Max Langenstein took off for a 27 yard romp to the one yard line. On the next play, Colwell dove into the endzone on a quarterback sneak, giving the Indians their first points in three games. The Indians were leading seven to nothing when Colwell found Zech Turner for a nine yard touchdown pass to give the Indians a 14-0 lead. With just over two minutes to go in the quarter, Colwell found Lucas Reddick for a 32 yard touchdown pass to set up running back Ben Griffith’s two yard touchdown run. Indians led 21-0 after one quarter.

Kettle Run would get something going in the first when Chance Fitzwater took off for a 50 yard touchdown, only to have it called back due to penalty. That would kill the drive as the Cougars couldn’t bounce back.

In the second quarter the Indians had a three yard pass to Turner to extend the lead to 28-0 heading into the half. The Indians ground game became more relevant in the second as did the passing. Unfortunately for the Indians, they only had the one touchdown in the quarter to show for it.

In the third quarter, Kettle Run finally got on the board when Justin Duvall found Kyle Warshauer for a three yard touchdown strike. The point after try was no good after the snap was mishandled by the holder. From what I can recall seeing, the kicker picked up the ball and tried to run with it only to either lateral or pass it to another player. Either way, the score stood at 28-6.

The lone Indian highlight came from the defense. Alex Spielman intercepted a Duvall pass and ran it back 50 yards. Of course, with the type of luck the Tribe has had this year, a couple plays later the offense fumbled the ball away. That along with Colwell throwing an interception were the only negatives for the Indians.

In the fourth quarter, Kettle Run had the ball deep in their own territory and a blitzing Indian defense staring at them. About 17 seconds into the fourth quarter, Duvall dropped back to throw only to see nothing but blue jerseys headed towards him. He scrambled into the endzone and dropped the ball. The ball rolled out of the back of the endzone for a safety. Even though they were down 22 points, this had to be a hard shot to the Cougars. They gave the Indians two points and gave them the ball.

The only other scoring by either team was a two yard run by Duvall and a 26 yard field goal by the Indians Josh Wise. The final score: Berkeley Springs 33, Kettle Run 12.

The Indians looked tough on defense and didn’t give up any really big yardage plays. They read their assignments and made some huge hits. One, in a scene that was all to familiar to the Indians, left a Kettle Run player down and out. After getting hit by an Indians player, the young man remained in th same position and didn’t move. The officials and trainers had to call for the ambulance to come onto the field to attend to the player. It hurts to see something like that in high school football two weeks in a row. But that’s the dangers of the game of football. From everyone here at WCST, we send our thoughts and prayers to his family for a full recovery.

The defense also did something that hadn’t really been done in the first part of the season and that was blitzing. If the coaches would have implemented this earlier in the season, who knows where the Indians would be sitting. Maybe a win or two (likely Hampshire and South Hagerstown) would be on the books. I hope the Indians use the blitz more in the final two games.

Before I wrap I would like to pass on congratulations to Dean Vosburgh and Morgan Young as they were named Homecoming King and Queen prior to the game.

The Indians host the Cougars again, only these Cougars come from Manassas Park, Va. It is also Senior Night, so come out and salute the senior fall athletes for their hard work over their high school careers. Game time is 7:30 and, from what I understand, we’ll be on the air at seven so that we can bring you the pregame festivities of Senior Night.