Red Riders get huge, statement win
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WEIRTON -- If the rest of the state was not paying much attention to Weir High before Friday night, they certainly are now.
The Red Riders, who entered the week ranked No. 7 in class AA, kept pace with No. 2 ranked Frankfort in the first half and took control in the second half to topple one of the state's top teams and win a top-10 battle of the unbeaten, 35-21, at Jimmy Carey Stadium.
"It seems like (other parts of the state) don't know who we are up here … but now they know," Red Riders head coach Frank Sisnni said. "Now they know what's going on up here. We've known it here, now everyone else is finding out.
"This is a huge win for us, this is a tremendous step in the right direction for our program. To be undefeated at this point and beat an opponent like that who was No. 2 in the state, it solidifies what we have been thinking all along about where we're at with Weir High football.
"We inherited this thing during the pandemic … We have been telling these kids to keep grinding and keep building towards this. This is a massive win."
The Red Riders tied the game just before end of the first half, then kept the Falcons grounded in the second half, out-scoring the visitors 14-0 in the final two quarters to slug out the win.
"It was a hard-fought football game between two very good teams," Frankfort head coach Kevin Whiteman said. "My hats off to Weir, they did a heck of a job. They beat us fair and square; they have some good, athletic kids and made the plays they needed to in order to win the game.
"They had more life than we did in the second half, I told the kids after the game that it was very obvious that (Weir) wanted it more than we did after we came back out after halftime. They were fired up.
"Weir is a very good football team. They're going to be a playoff team and have a great year. They and their coaches should be very proud about what they did (Friday night)."
After struggling to slow Frankfort's unique Wing-T offense in the first half, the now 4-0 Red Riders adjusted at halftime and forced three-straight turnover on down from the Falcons' offense sandwiched around a pair of second half interceptions by Devan Colson, the last of which came on the final play of the game.
"Coming out of the half, we made some adjustments and settled down, we got to place where we could play our brand of football," Sisinni said. "I give a lot of credit to our offensive coordinator Tom Taylor for what he called for us, and I give a lot of kudos to our defensive coaches for the adjustments that they made. It's just a great, overall team win."
Contradictory to the Falcons methodical ground game, the Red Riders' big play ability -- particularly from QB Malachi Stromile and basketball standout turned wide receiver Colin "G" Cross -- provided the needed answers in the first two quarters.
After the Falcons marched 14 plays and chewed 8:51 off the clock to score on the opening drive, Stromile broke free for a 77-yard scoring run on a QB keeper to answer and knot the score a mere 19 seconds later.
Frankfort scored a long TD of its own to regain the lead late in the first quarter, but Cross' third catch of the ensuing Red Rider drive went for a 28-yard TD to again knot the score. He finished with five grabs for 104 yards.
"The biggest thing is what we did in the first half to keep matching their style of play," Sisinni said. "They had a great gameplan coming in, and so did we. We hit some things early and it was basically a track meet.
"G Cross is an athlete we're very excited to have playing football. We're excited he came out. The athleticism to make plays is there … for him to come out and really play ball the way he has is beneficial to us."
After the Falcons again marched and scored on their third-straight possession to open the game, the Red Rider defense got its first stop to give the ball back to Stromile (190 passing yards, 98 rushing yards, three total TDs) and he hit Damir Mowder on a pass out of the backfield, who then took it 43 yards to score with less than a minute before the break and make it a 21-21 game at the half.
The Red Riders got the ball first in the third quarter and needed just five plays to go 86 yards to take the lead, Corey Lyons (80 yards, two scores) capping the go-ahead march with 26-yard run to paydirt.
Frankfort drove to the Weir 13, but a fake field goal was snuffed out. They got the ball right back after picking off a Stromile pass, but the senior made up for it with a huge tackle for loss to force the Falcons into a fourth-and-13, which led to Colson's first pick on the ensuing play.
"He made a huge play," Sisinni said. "(The INT) was a misread … he thought he saw something good and give credit to their free safety, he made a great play. We wanted him to calm down and he settled in on defense and shot the A-gap, B-gap and made a huge play on their jet sweep."
The Red Riders all but put things away with a long, methodical march of their own in the fourth quarter after forcing two more turnovers on downs, marching 52 yards on eight plays and taking nearly five minutes off the clock in the process before Lyons powered in from 15 yards out to provide the final margin.
Frankfort finished with 286 yards on the ground, but the majority came before halftime and three interceptions by the Red Rider defense when the Falcons had to go to the air stymied what started as an efficient offense. Four Falcons carried the ball more than 10 times, led by Jason Fontenot on 12 totes for 112.
"They're a ground-and-pound football team, I don't think they want to be throwing the ball much and we definitely wanted to make them throw it," Sisinni said. "We forced their hand a little bit and made them throw it and were able to make the plays we needed to."
The Red Riders finished with a balanced attack of 182 on the ground and 190 through the air for 372 total yards.
"Frankfort is a very good football team, give a lot of credit to coach Whiteman and his program," Sisinni said.
UP NEXT
Frankfort: Travels to Accident, Maryland to play Norhtern next Friday.
Weir High: Heads across the river to Union Local next Friday.