Valiant effort by a Belfry Defense asked to take on a very talented Offense while spotting them 4 turnovers, but the Highlanders use a late drive to eat clock and add a Field Goal and they take care of Belfry.

 

Pirates struggled with timing, fumbles, and at times seemed wide eyed with essentially an entire new backfield and their backup Sophomore QB making his first start.

 

Not the win Belfry wanted, but truth be told they actually exceeded my expectations a bit considering the competition and the circumstances.

Belfry had no chance on that last drive with the offense they run.

http://bluegrasspreps.com/ky-football-high/huntington-wv-belfry-367547.html

I don't want to get this thread off track but I would hate to be the team on Belfry's schedule next week.

 

And I hear what you are saying @ATLCat and believe this is a great game for the Pirates moving forward.

Some key plays:

- Huntington turns it over deep in their territory on the first possession, Belfry has a blunder and put the ball on the turf for a big loss that puts them behind the sticks. On 3rd and Long they throw an Interception.

- After getting some good momentum on a drive Belfry has a mix up with two men in motion, and instead of playing the play out they stand around and it leads to a fumble and turnover in HHS territory.

 

- Huntington has all the momentum and complete a pass that is tipped off the hands of a Pirate defender deep in Belfry territory. The HHS receiver suffers a serious injury after making the catch. First of all, thoughts with that young man and a speedy recovery. Secondly, the long delay and impact of the injury on his teammates seemed to kill the HHS momentum.

 

- Belfry, fortunate to be trailing 14-0, still gets the ball to open the 2nd Half but fumbles it on the very first play setting up HHS at the Belfry 15. The Pirate Defense holds and Huntington ends up missing a long FG.

 

- Belfry cuts the lead to 14-6 on a beautiful run from Isaac Dixon as he gets loose for the only time on the night. The XP has a bad snap and Birchfield almost turns chicken poop into chicken salad but comes up short, that point though may change the trajectory of the game as Belfry trailed by 8 instead of 7.

 

- Belfry gets key plays on Defense and Special Teams and eventually get a short punt that sets them up in great field position. Belfry drives into the redzone and on 3rd and Intermediate go for the FB dive in the middle of the field setting up a short FG to give them a chance to win with a TD. Had this been a 7 point score the play calling may have been different knowing that a tie was easily attainable if they converted.

-Huntington gets the ensuing kickoff inside their own 10, their superstar RB was now out with an injury, but the backup breaks a couple big runs and the Highlanders just give Belfry a dose of their own medicine pounding it between tackles behind their mammoth Oline led by the #2 player in the Country. After several minutes Belfry's D gets the stop they need finally, but HHS converts a 33 yard FG to push the lead back to 8 with under 3:00 to go

- Belfry was unable to get much on 1st and 2nd Down, on 3rd Don they try to run the option with a pitch to Dixon and he has plenty of field ahead, but Belfry misses a block and Highlander defender makes a great play in the open field.

Belfry had no chance on that last drive with the offense they run.

 

To be fair, the Sophomore QB was a first time starter and is not known for his passing prowess anyway. Belfry's Senior starter was out this week with an injury and is the much more capable threat.

 

With that said, you aren't wrong. With one timeout left and 80 yards to go with a limited throwing QB Belfry was up against it unless they could pop a play to better field position.

Didn’t Belfry turn the ball over a lot last year against Huntington too?

Overall, very satisfied with the way the Pirates finished out this one. The young Bucs are so green at key positions, mainly the skill positions, and they came out and got took to task by a bigger, and more experienced squad. Huntington jumped on them 14-0 fairly early on, and it was a concern that maybe the good guys in red were going to get the woodshed treatment.

 

Belfry's kids showed a lot of grit, and clawed their way back to cut the lead to 14-9 in the 4th quarter, thanks to several nice defensive series and a "give it time" vanilla offense that chipped away and finally broke one against the Highlanders.

 

The Pirates have a lot to work on, and a long way to go, but they showed me tonight that they have a lot of physical pieces in place, they just need time and reps. More importantly, especially with a young team who dug themselves an early hole, I saw some of the intangibles that I didn't really expect this early on. This group has a fire in their belly.

 

You gotta love that.

Not unexpected but still O was hoping Belfry could find a way to win.