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Weir keeps riding playoff mentality

RUNNING OUT — Weir’s Tyler Mack (32), Chad Custer (5), Jaylon Bridges (20) and others take the field against East Liverpool on Friday. (Photo by Michael D. McElwain)

WEIRTON — After his team’s 41-6 victory over East Liverpool Friday night, Weir High football coach Tony Filberto said that next Friday’s home game against arch rival Brooke is Week 3 of the playoffs for the Red Riders.

“Our playoffs started last week with Warren Local, and this was Week 2,” he said, whose team now is 6-3. “Now we have to win next week to get into the playoffs, and our kids know what we need to do this week — prepare for them, give it all you got and see what we have left.”

Filberto can start to look ahead to the Bruins, which won its second game by beating Buckhannon-Upshur Friday night, 28-7, thanks to a second quarter blitz and an outstanding game from his special team players.

The Potters (3-6) scored first with a 2-yard touchdown run by big Jalen Moman early in the second period, but their 6-0 lead was erased in just 10 seconds. That’s how long it took Weir’s speedy Jake McCoy to dash 78 yards with the ensuing kickoff. Reed Reitter tacked on the extra point from placement, giving the Red Riders a 7-6 lead that they never relinquished.

Weir went on to score 34 unanswered points with 24 of them coming during the remainder of the second quarter.

“We started a little bit slow, but once we settled in we got a little spark out of that kick return, and we did a lot of good things after that,” Filberto said. “We turned the ball over in the second quarter, we missed some blocks, got sacked a couple times, we dropped a couple passes. I don’t think it was anything that we did different in the second quarter except that we secured the football and quit making mistakes.

“We were getting concerned there, but we played very well in the second quarter. The third quarter we came out and dominated, and then the game was over.”

The Red Riders really got the momentum rolling when senior Caleb Rea blocked a punt to set up Weir’s second touchdown. The Riders got the ball at the East Liverpool 11, and it took just three plays to score with sophomore quarterback Sebastian Spencer, running up the middle on a draw play from 5 yards out. Reitter split the upights again as he did after all five of the Red Rider touchdowns in the game, putting Weir out front 14-6.

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 booted five extra point kicks, while containing the Potters on all the kickoffs.

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.

“I’m pleased with having Komorowski back,” Filberto said. “He was outstanding defensively. We got him in for a couple of series. He threw the ball well and he actually ran it once. I was holding my breath. We didn’t want him to run. It wasn’t called that way. He didn’t shy away from anything, so that’s a good sign.

“It’s wonderful that we have two quarterbacks. Sometimes you can’t find one. Right now we have two good ones.”

After Spencer scored with his legs, he took to the air, finding Reitter on back-to-back touchdown passes of 5 and 29 yards. The first one was a wide receiver screen pass. On the second one, Reitter made it to the highlight film as he leaped into the air at the 5-yard line and out-fought two Potter defenders for the ball then whirled, shaking off a tackler and diving 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.

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 ahead by 35 points. The clock ran continuously through the period, stopping only for timeouts and injuries.

“We were hoping to attack the middle of the defense,” East Liverpool coach Josh Ludwig said about his game plan. “We were able to do that early on, but coach Filberto has been around a long time and he made some adjustments. Our counter adjustments weren’t able to work.

“The first quarter, I thought, it was a pretty good football game. I’ll take the blame for some special team issues. We have to work harder. We have to block people on punts. We have to make sure we don’t turn the football over.”

The Potters return to Patterson Field next week to play St. Clairsville.

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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