Wheeling – Gus Morrison tied a Class A Super Six record with five touchdowns as Ritchie County beat Williamstown 42-21 Saturday evening in the Class A championship game at Wheeling Island Stadium.
Morrison, who led the state in scoring each of the last two years, ran the ball 17 times for 178 yards and four touchdowns while also hauling in five catches for 44 yards and another score. His 34 total points broke the Class A record which was 30.
“I give all my credit to my line tonight,” Morrison said. “We started off a little bit slow but once we got trucking we didn’t slow down and they were blocking like crazy tonight.”
Aiding Ritchie’s cause was head coach Rick Haught’s willingness to take chances.
Facing fourth down in their own territory on their first drive, Haught elected to go for it and the Rebels converted, one of three successful fourth-down conversion attempts of the half. The end result was an opening drive that consumed nearly eight minutes and staked the Rebels to an 8-0 lead. Williamstown answered but the Rebels cashed in on every risk and led 22-14 heading into the break.
Out of the intermission Haught took his biggest gamble and it paid off.
An onside kick to start the half was recovered by the Rebels and they capitalized with Morrison scoring on a 35-yard run on the ensuing drive.
“I made that decision with less than 30 seconds to go,” Haught said. “We had a couple guys in the right spot and they misplayed the ball and we were ready to get it.”
Williamstown slashed the deficit to seven late in the third quarter but a pair of Morrison touchdown runs in the  fourth quarter sealed the deal.
“I mean, this game turned out the last three, four, five minutes you kind of start reflecting,” Haught said. “Just, these kids have done something – for instance I’ll tell you a story. My dad at Harrisville High School, and I graduated from Williamstown, my dad in 1963 was on a state championship baseball team. That is still talked about today. These guys have just done something that will be talked about in our community for the rest of their lives.”
Haught’s son Ethan completed 8 of 12 passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns, also intercepting a pass on Williamstown’s final possession.
Maxwell Molessa led the Yellowjackets with 122 yards rushing on 23 carries, scoring two touchdowns. He was named the MVP for Williamstown while Morrison earned MVP honors for the Rebels.
Final
Ritchie County 42, Williamstown 21#wvprepfb pic.twitter.com/FHEyWDGw5n— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) December 5, 2021
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
