Weir High’s Tyler Mack stiff arms Brooke’s Ethan Secrist on Friday. (Photo by Michael D. McElwain)

WEIRTON — Weir High scored on its first possession and then put 17 more points on the board in the second quarter as it rolled to a convincing 40-7 victory over Brooke Friday night at Jimmy Carey Stadium. It is only the 14th Red Rider win in the series that dates back to 1969 and its first win since 2008.

The victory gives the Red Riders their third straight 7-3 season and guarantees their fourth straight playoff appearance. It was also senior night with eight players being recognized. They are the first group in school history that reached the playoffs all four years of their high school careers.

The Weir defense played a big role in the win as it held the Bruins to a meager 62 total yards. The Bruins, who started senior Josh Richie at quarterback for the first time in his high school career, got 59 yards passing and only three net yards on the ground.

Weir’s offense dominated, rolling up 417 total yards, 278 on the ground and 139 through the air. It had 16 first downs to only three for the Bruins.

Richie completed only 2-of-12 passes with one intercepted, and junior Logan Williams completed 2-of-3 for 35 yards. Williams was ticketed earlier in the week as the starter after Gage Yost injured a knee in Brooke’s win over Buckhannon-Upshur last week, but he woke up Friday morning with a pinched nerve in his non-throwing shoulder. He entered the game midway through the second period and was injured early in the third, so Richie returned to finish the game.

Junior Garet Hostuttler scored on a 5-yard jet sweep from his wing back position less than five minutes into the game. Classmate Reed Reitter, whose talented right foot accounted for 10 of the 40 points, booted the extra point for a 7-0 lead. Reitter kicked two field goals and four conversions overall.

The Red Riders opened the second quarter with two touchdowns within eight seconds to expand the lead to 21-0. First, sophomore quarterback Sebastian Spencer rolled right, tucked the ball in, dodged a couple of Bruin defenders and raced 48 yards to the end zone with 11:07 on the scoreboard.

Then, Reitter’s foot set up the third score when he pooched the kickoff down to the Brooke 25, and the Bruins failed to field it. Senior Jaylon Bridges pounced on the ball that was lying dead on the field. On the first play, senior Tyler Mack blasted off right tackle and found daylight for a 25-yard scoring scamper. The scoreboard read 10:59 when he crossed the goal line.

Brooke got back into the game three minutes later when senior Ethan Secrist stepped in front of a Spencer pass at midfield and raced untouched 50 yards. With Noah Horvath’s kick from placement, the Bruins cut the lead to 21-7.

The Red Riders took a 24-7 lead into the locker room at halftime on Reitter’s 22-yard field goal just 17 seconds before the intermission. Six plays before that, Spencer and Reitter hooked up on a 24-yard pass with Reitter making a diving catch at the Brooke 5-yard line. Another jet sweep by Hostuttler got into the end zone but was nullified by a holding penalty.

It was more of the same for the Red Riders in the second half as Reitter kicked a 41-yard field goal, his third of the season from beyond the 40-yard line.

Junior Chad Custer got into the scoring act in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard plunge and scored again a couple of minutes later when he was on the receiving end of a screen pass from junior quarterback Tyler Komorowski. That toss and run covered 66 yards and completed the scoring for the night as Reitter’s extra point kick went awry.

Weir High 40, Brooke 7

Brooke 0-7-0-0 — 7

Weir High 7-17-3-13 — 40

W: Hostuttler 5 run (Reitter kick)

W: Mack 25 run (Reiter kick)

W: Reitter 22 field goalRei

B: Secrist 50 interception return (N. Horvath kick)

W: Reitter 41 field goal

W: Custer 1 run (Reitter kick)

W: Custer 66 pass from Komorowski (kick failed)

RUSHING: Brooke 25-3 (Valero 4-1; Scipio 2-4; Conley 2-0; Camilletti 8-17; Gabbert 1-3; Williams 3-(-4); Richie 4-(-18)); Weir High: 44-278-4 (Custer 17-82-1; Mack 7-93-1; Simito 4-21; Hostuttler 6-31-1; Walters 5-0; Komorowski 2-(-1); DeMatteis 1-13; Spencer 2-32-1).

PASSING: Brooke 3-15-59-0-1 (Richie 2-12-24-0-1; Williams 2-3-35-0-0); Weir High 8-17-139-1-1 (Spencer 7-13-73-0-1; Komorowski 1-4-66-1-0).

RECEIVING: Brooke (Rasz 1-15; Secrist 2-32; A. Horvath 1-12); Weir High (Reitter 3-38; Mack 2-5; Custer 2-77-1; McCoy 1-19).

FIRST DOWNS: Brooke 3; Weir High 16.

PENALTIES: Brooke 9-75; Weir High 12-90.

FUMBLES-LOST: Brooke 2-1; Weir High 3-1.

INTERCEPTIONS: Brooke 1; Weir High 1.