Weir High staying alive in playoff race
WEIRTON — Weir High took a big step toward securing their third straight playoff appearance Friday night with a convincing 41-6 victory over East Liverpool inside Jimmy Carey Stadium.
The Red Riders (6-3) went into the game ranked 18th and have their backs to the wall, needing wins to make the field of 16. They have one more must win game next week against arch rival Brooke.
The Red Riders’ special teams played a huge role in the outcome as they blocked a punt, scored on a kickoff return, kicked two field goals and converted five extra point kicks.
Another big plus for the Red Riders was the return of junior defensive end and quarterback Tyler Komorowski after missing most of five games with a knee injury. He made his presence known on defense with a couple of tackles for losses and played two offensive series, completing 3-of-5 passes for 54 yards.
Outstanding on offense was junior Reed Reitter who caught five passes, two of them for touchdowns, and kicked the two field goals of 42 and 24 yards along with the five extra points. He was also busy on defense, making several tackles as the last defender from his safety position and foiled several Potter pass attempts.
Weir started slow in the first quarter where they were plagued by some dropped passes, a couple of penalties and a fumble.
East Liverpool (3-6) scored first when Weir gave it a short field with a fumble at its own 46. The Potters took only five plays to cover the 46 yards with big Jalen Moman blasting through the middle from 2 yards out for the touchdown. The score was set up by a 24-yard run from Derek Carter to the Red Rider 2.
Weir responded immediately with Jake McCoy taking the ensuing kickoff at his 22 and running straight up the field 78 yards to pay dirt. Reitter’s first extra point kick gave the Red Riders a 7-6 lead that they never relinquished.
With that return, a defensive three-and-out and senior Caleb Rea’s block of Levi Turner’s punt changed the momentum of the game in Weir’s favor. The Riders got possession at the East Liverpool 11 after the blocked punt. It took them three plays to score with sophomore signal caller Sebastian Spencer, going in untouched from the 5-yard line on a quarterback draw.
Spencer then took to the air, finding Reitter on back-to-back touchdown passes of 5 and 29 yards. The first one was a 5-yard wide receiver screen pass for a touchdown On the second one, Reitter leaped into the air at the 5-yard line and out fought 2 potter defenders for the ball then whirled shaking off a tackler and dove into the end zone.
Reitter’s 42-yard field goal five seconds before halftime ended the second quarter blitz with the Red Riders up 31-6 at the intermission.
Reitter kicked a 24-yard field goal midway through the third period, and junior Chad Custer blasted over right guard and found daylight to the end zone with a 13-yard run to cap the scoring at 41-6 with 2:38 left in the third period.
The mercy rule kicked in at the start of the fourth period with Weir High ahead by 35 points. The clock ran continuously through the period stopping only for time outs and injuries.
Weir High 41, East Liverpool 6
East Liverpool 0-6-0-0 — 6
Weir High 0-31-10-0 — 41
EL: Moman 2 run (run failed)
W: McCoy 78 kickoff return (Reitter kick)
W: Spencer 5 run (Reitter kick)
W: Reitter 5 pass from Spencer (Reitter kick)
W: Reitter 29 pass from Spencer (Reitter kick)
W: Reitter 42 field goal
W: Reitter 24 field goal
W: Custer 13 run (Reitter kick)
RUSHING: EL 35-126-1 (Moman 11-31-1; Kopras 4-8; Weyand 2-5; Turner 1-(-2); Watkins 1-8; Carter 10-45; Reed 6-31); Weir 30-156-2 (Custer 10-41-1; Mack 6-64; Walters 3-1; McCoy 1-20; Curtis 1-(-2); Spencer 7-48-1; McUmer 2-(-6)).
PASSING: EL 4-8-25-0-0 (all by Reed); Weir 10-18-120-2-0 (Spencer 6-12-64-2-0; Komorowski 3-5-54; McUmer 1-2).
RECEIVING: EL (Moman 1-(-4); Watkins 1-15-11; Wheaton 1-16; Kopras 1-(-2)); Weir (Reitter 5-5-63-2; Custer 3-48; McCoy 2-9).
FIRST DOWNS: EL: 5; Weir High: 10.
PENALTIES-YARDS: EL: 6-60; Weir High: 5-50.
FUMBLES-LOST: EL 2-2; Weir High: 3-3.
PUNTS-AVG: EL: 8-33-2; Weir High: 2-30.
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