Lyons, Red Riders run all over Martins Ferry, 48-21
MARTINS FERRY -- A close first half turned into a definitive win Friday for the Weir Red Riders, who got four second half rushing touchdowns from Corey Lyons to come away with a 48-21 road victory over the Martins Ferry Purple Riders.
In the battle of red vs. purple, Weir's one-two punch of Lyons and Da'Shjuan Smith made for a dominant day on the ground, Lyons rushing 16 times for 142 yards and four touchdowns, and Smith rushing 18 times for 150 yards and a score.
"It was a program win for us," Weir head coach Frank Sisinni said. "Any time you get challenged by Martins Ferry football, coach Kropka and his program, they're definitely making strides in what they're doing, but our kids stayed the course tonight and stayed within themselves and got back to our brand of football in the second half.
"Really had a spark from Corey Lyons coming off the bench. We can state the obvious -- he's got a certain vision that most backs don't. We got a shot tonight from Da'Shjuan Smith and Corey Lyons. But it was our line up front opening up holes no matter who was running."
Lyons, who tweaked his hamstring in Weir's last game and was limited all week in practice, did not see the field much in the first half. But with a 40-yard touchdown dash on the Red Riders' first play of the second half, the senior made up for lost time.
"We didn't know where he would be at, we wanted to keep him on the shelf a little bit. But as the game progressed we ended up putting him in there. You saw what Corey Lyons is capable of doing, he can take a game over.
"But that doesn't happen without what's going on on our offensive line."
Weir leaned on Lyons after Smith went down with a leg injury halfway through the third quarter and did not return. Sisinni said that there's no diagnosis for Smith yet but he doesn't think it's anything severe.
Ferry, meanwhile, stuck right with Weir through the first half and well into the third quarter, being down 21-14 midway through the third period, and trailed 14-7 at halftime.
The Purple Riders only had a one-score deficit at the half despite constant penalties, including seven false starts in the first half which made life difficult for Ferry's offense. The home team finished with 11 penalties levying 70 yards against them.
"That game was lost in the first half," Martins Ferry head coach Justin Kropka said. "We were not disciplined. I've been doing this for a long time, and I don't know the fix to this. Every time (Weir was) shifting fronts - we practiced it all week, we practiced going quick, we practiced different counts, we'd seen this all week. We've got young guys, first time playing a game of this magnitude, I think they were all jacked up."
Ferry took Friday's first lead on an eight-yard touchdown run by Tev'n Williams on a drive helped by a 40-yard pass to Turner Krol, which helped overcome two false starts on the drive - the start of a recurring problem for the young Purple Riders.
"I think our youth really showed up front tonight, and I expected some mistakes but we lined up wrong, we did this and that," Kropka said. "Our youth showed tonight, I think we let the moment get to us a little bit. I thought football-wise we played well, just all the other things we weren't real disciplined tonight. I've got to take the blame for that."
After Ferry scored on their first drive, Weir mirrored their Rider counterpart, answering with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Damir Mowder, who got good blocking on the sideline after catching a ball in the flat.
Ferry's Carter Bennett came down with an interception late in the first, setting up the Purple Riders at midfield, but the drive stalled due to penalties, and the first quarter ended in a 7-7 tie.
Ferry's defense forced a turnover-on-downs on the ensuing drive, but Weir snatched posession right back, the Red Riders' Jacob Taylor reeling in an interception over the middle and returning the play to the Ferry 16.
Smith scored a 16-yard run to put Weir ahead 14-7 at the half.
The two teams traded big plays early in the second half, Lyons announcing his presence with a 40-yard touchdown run with 10:12 to play in the third, and Ferry answering with a 75-yard catch-and-run to Luca Shane, who caught a shallow pass along the sideline, slipped one tackle and outran everybody to the end zone to pull Ferry within one score, 9:54 showing on the clock in the third.
Shane had three catches for 119 yards and a score.
The Ferry defense, which had played tough against Weir through the first half, started to crack in the second in the face of a Weir rushing attack who were bent on grinding out yards and pounding the rock.
"You give up 48 points and say 'the defense played well enough to win,' but they really did," Kropka said. "Until we wore down there at the end, Weir's a senior-laden team and I knew we might have to have a lead going into the fourth quarter to win this one. I thought our defense played excellent, we put them in bad spots all night, bad field positions all night, but they played well enough to win. That game was lost with mental mistakes and a little bit of jitters."
Weir quarterback Malachi Stromile converted a fourth-and-one at the Ferry 20 on a QB sneak before Lyons eventually scored his second touchdown of the day from 10 yards out.
Lyons tacked on another score, this one a 19-yard rush, before quarter's end.
Ahead 35-21, Weir was able to pin their ears back on defense, and continue to wear out Ferry through the ground on defense.
"We did really well in the first half," Sisinni said. "Things kind of got away from us in the third, a couple missed tackles, but we played a solid game of defensive football in the first half to keep things in check before halftime. Our kids played a nice brand of football tonight."
Krol caught a five-yard touchdown pass for Ferry in the fourth, but Weir rushing touchdowns from Lyons and Tyreek Petteway kept the game out of reach.
Krol ended with three catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
Weir stays on the road next week, due to face Albert Gallatin, while Ferry remains at home next week against Wheeling Central Catholic.