Photos by Renee Richardson
Courtesy of The Charleston Gazette-Mail
POCA – The malaise that hovered over the Poca football program to end the regular season didn’t follow the Dots into the playoffs. At least, that is, until the final minutes of Friday’s opening-round game.
Quarterback Jordan Wolfe ran for a touchdown and threw a pair of long scoring passes as No. 5 seed Poca downed Liberty Raleigh 28-6 to earn a spot in the Class AA quarterfinals.
The win snapped a two-game losing spell for the Dots, who were 7-0 and No. 1 in the playoff ratings three weeks ago. Wolfe connected with Kambel Meeks on a 58-yard TD toss in the second quarter Friday and fired a 61-yarder to Toby Payne on the second snap of the second half. Wolfe hit on 7 of 16 passes for 169 yards.
Poca (8-2) also dominated the line of scrimmage, outgaining the 12th-seeded Raiders 283-82 in rushing yards and 452-128 in total yards.
“I thought we played pretty good for three quarters,’’ Poca coach Seth Ramsey said, “but we still left some points on the field. Hopefully we can keep this thing rolling. We want to see how close we can come to winning the thing, and we’ve got to play a little bit smarter and a little bit better.’’
The news got even better moments after the game when the Dots found out that No. 4 Lincoln fell to No. 13 Frankfort in another first-round game, meaning Poca can unexpectedly host next week’s quarterfinal. The lone sour note for the Dots came with 6:47 left in the game when an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty was called on Payne, Poca’s Division I prospect, for jawing at a Liberty player following a play when the Dots were on defense. Payne was announced as being ejected from the game. Normally, an ejection carries a one-game suspension in state high school football, meaning Payne might not get to compete in the quarterfinals. However, Ramsey wasn’t quite sure if that will occur in this instance.
“The head official told me to keep him on the sideline and not put him back in the game,’’ Ramsey said, “and we’d be fine afterward. That’s what he told me on the field. I don’t know exactly what’s going on. Usually, you get thrown out and you’ve got to go in the locker room and somebody’s got to come and get you.
“It’s an unsportsmanlike penalty. He didn’t throw a punch, so he’s not thrown out for that. I guess we’ll find out later [when officials make their postgame report to the Secondary School Activities Commission]. Football’s an emotional game. High school kids are emotional kids, but you’ve got to keep your cool.’’
Poca led 14-0 at halftime and had the game under control by late in the third quarter when Malakai Woodard-Jones ran 8 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-0. Woodard-Jones finished with 133 yards on 17 carries. Liberty (7-4) got its only score with 1:20 remaining in the game on an 11-yard run by Logan Dodrill. Dodrill, who had nearly 1,200 yards rushing during the regular season, ended up with 53 yards on 21 carries. His three longest runs came after Payne was ejected.
“Give them credit. They’re tough,’’ Raiders coach Mark Workman said of the Dots. “They’re not the No. 5 team just because somebody put them there. They’re big up front, and we knew that coming in. We’ve got some decent backs, but one thing about us is we’re not strong now.
“Our kids have got to buy into the weight room, buy into the offseason. And until we do that, we may make the playoffs, but we’re not going to get over that hump. We lack strength up front. We start four sophomores up front, so they really haven’t grown into their bodies yet. Hopefully they’ll start maturing a little bit.’’
Payne paid dividends for the Dots running the ball (four carries, 97 yards) and catching it (three receptions, 83 yards) and added an interception on defense. Meeks caught three passes for 93 yards and also had a pick on defense.
For Liberty, Clayton Williams completed 7 of 15 passes for 46 yards and Andrew Pettry recovered two of Poca’s four lost fumbles. The Dots gained a 14-0 halftime lead, holding the Raiders to a pair of first downs and 44 net yards on 23 plays. Wolfe started the scoring on a 6-yard run on the opening play of the second quarter. That drive featured carries of 17 yards for Payne and 24 yards for Wolfe.
Liberty’s most promising possession in the first half reached the Poca 19 but the Raiders turned the ball over on downs. Nine plays later, on third and 8 from his own 42, Wolfe lofted a 58-yard touchdown pass to Meeks, who broke a tackle and got into the clear in the Raiders secondary.
Poca 28, Liberty Raleigh 6
Liberty Raleigh – 0;0;0;6;–;6
Poca – 0;14;14;0;–;28
Second quarter
P – Wolfe 6 run (Starcher kick), 11:56
P – Meeks 58 pass from Wolfe (Starcher kick), 1:36
Third quarter P – Payne 61 pass from Wolfe (Starcher kick), 11:08
P – Woodard-Jones 8 run (Starcher kick), :25
Fourth quarter LR – Dodrill 11 run (run failed), 1:20
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
RUSHING – Liberty: Dodrill 21-53, Simms 9-22, Williams 9-7; Poca: Woodard-Jones 17-133, Payne 4-97, Wolfe 11-55
PASSING – Liberty: Williams 7-15-2-46, Dodrill 0-1-0-0; Poca: Wolfe 7-16-0-169
RECEIVING – Liberty: Simms 4-20, A.Pettry 1-13, Beller 1-10, J.Pettry 1-3; Poca: Meeks 3-95, Payne 3-83, Woodard-Jones 1-1
