Gallery by Brian Ferguson
HICO – The showdown between Midland Trail and the visitors from Summers County Friday was a tale of two halves.
Surviving some costly miscues in the first half, the Patriots erased a 12-0 halftime deficit for a thrilling 13-12 win over the Bobcats.
“I don’t know what the deal was really. We didn’t have any energy. We didn’t do the things that we normally do. I don’t know if we were trying too hard or what,” Midland Trail head coach Jeremy Moore said about the tough first half. “I put a lot of pressure on them. I wanted to beat (Summers County head coach) Josh (Evans) and I’m not going to lie. He is a good friend of mine and it is one of those games that you circle for personal reasons. That might have been on me, but I am very proud of how resilient they were. I told them an ugly win is better than a pretty loss.”
In the first 24 minutes, a win looked out of the question for Trail which came in riding a three-game winning streak.
Summers County ran roughshod over the Patriots on the first drive marching 80 yards in just three plays capped by a 27-yard touchdown run by Duke Dodson.
The Bobcats then forced a fumble on Trail’s first series and recovered the ball at the 8-yard line to set up another golden opportunity to score.
However, as would be the case on a couple of occasions in the first half, Summers County failed to score and turned the ball over on downs.
After forcing a punt on the next Trail possession, the Bobcats again found the end zone, going 55 yards in 10 plays. Coen McClaugherty made it a 12-0 lead on a one-yard plunge.
Summers County continued to pound the ball on its next drive before a costly fumble derailed its momentum.
“We had a fumble inside the 20 and we were inside the 10 and didn’t score. That killed us,” Evans said. “When we have opportunities, we have to score. We are pretty good football team right now, but we have to get over that hump.”
The home team was fortunate to only be down 12 points at break after three turnovers and having a 58-yard touchdown run called back on a holding call.
The two teams looked completely different in the second half and the missed opportunities came back to haunt the Bobcats.
“Coach Moore does a heck of a job and hats off to them. They had a game plan in the second half and it worked out for them,” Evans said. “We got satisfied. We only have three seniors on the field right now and we are young. They battled and we had our foot on the gas, but we have to learn how to finish.”
After a three-and-out it appeared the second half would be more of the same for the Patriots. That all changed when Talon Shockey bombed a 56-yard punt that pinned the Bobcats inside their own 5-yard line.
“Talon is a very talented kicker. He doesn’t get a lot of shining moments where we have scored more touchdowns over the years,” Moore said. “He is definitely a weapon. Sometimes I have to remind myself he can kick the laces off the ball.”
The ensuing punt by the Bobcats gave Midland Trail the ball inside the Summers County 40-yard line leading to a 20-yard touchdown strike from Jaden Gladwell to Landon Syner.
Shockey’s point after was good to trim the lead back to 12-7.
While the Trail offense finally started to find some success, the big story of the second half was the Patriots’ defense which pitched an all-important shutout.
“I think a lot of it was that we quit guessing what they were doing. Sometimes you just have to go play gap assignment football instead of waiting to see what they are going to do,” Moore said. “I thought we played a lot of wait and see those first few drives.”
Gap assignment football led to the biggest play of the game on the next Summers County possession when River Barnhouse blew up a running play and forced a fumble with a big hit.
“(Assistant) Coach (Shane) Shockey has been coaching me since sixth grade. Whatever he tells me to do, I make sure I listen to it,” Barnhouse said. “He told me if they go unbalanced like that to be sure I hit that A-gap in case they run the dive. I didn’t even think about until the ball was snapped and I didn’t even see him until I hit him.”
With starting tailback Will McGraw out with an injury, Barnhouse then became the go to guy on offense powering the Patriots down the field.
It was a position he didn’t think he would find himself in after some early season struggles.
“That was an amazing drive for me. I have been struggling the first couple of games with dropping the ball. I feel like this week that I have worked really hard and fixed how I hold the ball. It paid off tonight,” Barnhouse said.
The eventual game winning drive took 15 plays to cover 53 yards, but it was filled with wild plays and two fourth down conversions.
Barnhouse carried the ball eight times during the drive and on third-and-28 from the Summers 42, a pass intended for Cody Harrell slipped through his hands, but found Zane Burford for a 29-yard gain and a crucial first down.
“When Will got hurt, River stepped in and didn’t miss a beat,” Moore said. “That was a game changing play he made on defense and that is the River Barnhouse we knew we could get. He realized that is the River Barnhouse he can be.”
A seven-yard run by Barnhouse made it first-and goal from the two, but the excitement was far from over.
Three running plays netted just one yard and Trail was left facing a fourth-and-goal from the 1. Moore went to the air for the deciding touchdown.
Gladwell hit Harrell on a slant to give the Patriots the lead.
“We were calling that they were running the slant. The safety didn’t play over like he is coached to. It was a blown coverage is what happened,” Evans said.
It was not the first big fourth down play that Harrell and Gladwell had converted on the night. The two had hooked up earlier in the drive with Harrell holding on to the ball after taking a big lick from the safety.
“I come out in practice every week with the mindset to get better at routes and with my hands,” Harrell said. “I like to say, if it is anywhere in my vicinity, I am going to bring it down. When my team needs me the most, I have to step up and make a play and that was what I did.”
Harrell was also instrumental in the locker room at halftime to get his team refocused for the final two quarters.
“We came out slow. Our offense was bad and our defense wasn’t getting any penetration,” Harrell said. “I got on them at halftime and I wouldn’t let them give up. I did a little yelling and gave them some butt-chewing. I had to do what I had to do. Then we came out and gave it to them.”
Although Moore wanted to get the win for personal reasons, he also knew his team needed the victory in regards to the playoffs.
“That is a very good team, that is an underrated football team. They have played a brutal schedule to this point,” Moore said. “The teams we have beat to this point have not won a ton of games. We knew coming into this game, if we wanted to make a playoff push that we had to win this game. This was a must win game.”
Midland Trail (4-1) faces another big test Friday when it travels to Nicholas County. Summers County is off next week before hosting Sherman in two weeks.
SC: 12 0 0 0 – 12
MT: 0 0 7 6 – 13
First quarter
SC: Duke Dodson 27 run (kick no good)
SC: Coen McClaugherty 1 run (rush failed)
Third quarter
MT: Landon Syner 20 pass from Jaden Gladwell (Talon Shockey kick)
Fourth quarter
MT: Cody Harrell 1 pass from Gladwell (pass failed)
Rushhing: (SC) McClaugherty 2-7-1, Dodson 15-71-1, Drake Cole 17-109, Tyson Adkins 6-26, Ryan Oliveros 2- (-8); (MT) Will McGraw 8-33, Gladwell 7 (-36), Harrell 1-9, Barnhouse 13-47
Passing: (SC) 2-7-17-1-0; (MT) Gladwell 12-21-133-2-2
Receiving: Dodson 2-17; (MT) Harrell 8-76-1, Syner 2-23-1, Burford 2-34
