Keyser shuts out Northern in second half in 28-10 win

Oct. 1—KEYSER, W.Va — No. 4 Keyser held Northern scoreless in the second half en route to a 28-10 win on Friday at Alumni Stadium at Tornado Alley.

The Huskies (2-3, 0-1 WestMAC) took an early lead with a field goal, however, the Golden Tornado (4-1, 1-0 Potomac Valley Conference) held them to seven points the remainder of the game.

"We thought we had two game plans coming in," Keyser head coach Derek Stephen said. "Seeing which formation we can get, find out what we got. We found out we could run the fullback in between the tackles. We challenged our line this week to come out and try to dominate. Still gotta watch film but I think they did a pretty good job at it."

Northern got the ball first and their first completion went for 22 yards from Luke Ross to Kellen Hinebaugh. The Huskies were penalized on what would've been a 10-yard gain and were forced to settle for a Wally Brands field goal from 38 yards out.

"We're playing tough for a half, but we're not finishing against these good teams," Northern head coach Phil Carr said. "I don't wanna keep making the same excuse that we run out of gas. I told the kids I'm tired of saying we run out of gas. The size they were compared to the size we were up front, that was a tell tale."

The Huskies decided on an onside kick following the field goal, but Keyser recovered. The Tornado's first play from scrimmage was a 22-yard run by Tristen Root up the middle. The second was one of two dropped snaps by the Tornado in the first half. The drive stalled and Keyser was forced to punt.

"It wasn't a planned onside kick," Carr said. "We were trying to squib it hard down through there. Wally (Brands) hit it pretty good but he hit it right at one of their guys. We thought it worked out in our favor. We did have it at one point but it came out."

In the second quarter, the Tornado faced a fourth-and-inches at the Northern 21. Rotruck got the conversion on a quarterback sneak. It set up a touchdown pass from him to Braydon Keller from 20 yards out. Keller caught a fade on the right side of the end zone.

Later in the quarter, the Huskies fumbled and Keyser recovered at Northern's 11. It set up a walk-in touchdown by Root from three yards out. Keyser decided on an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff, however, the kick went out of bounds.

"We just felt we had the momentum going," Stephen said. "It's nothing new, anybody who watches us knows we onside kick. We place the ball deep, we squib it down the field, we pooch it. That's part of our game plan and we come in every week and when we see something that we can exploit we try to. If we would've got it, it would've been a game changer. We didn't have a really good kick, it only went about eight yards and out of bounds."

The Huskies took advantage and drove down inside the Tornado 25. On fourth-and-five at the 23, Kyle Broadwater was wide open down the right side for a 20-yard touchdown catch from Ross.

The Tornado responded with a 44-yard run up the middle by Kaii Kingman.

"It was big, it got his confidence up," Stephen said. "After he had that fumble, he was down a little bit. We got him up, got him straightened out, he was able to bust that one. He's a game changer for us."

Inside the Huskies' five, Keyser faced a fourth-and-goal. Rotruck looked to pass and had to scramble. He got a yard when he needed three. The Tornado took a 14-10 lead into halftime.

Keyser fumbled on their opening drive of the second half but was able to recover. The Tornado faced a fourth-and-11 at the 21. Rotruck scrambled and picked up 12 and a first down. It set up a three-yard run by Mele for six points.

"We made a couple changes at halftime, switched something up on defense," Stephen said. "Tried to combat what they scored on in the first half. I think once we did that, it slowed them down just a tad bit and then we got the momentum."

Keyser added to their lead in the fourth quarter with a 28-yard run by Kingman for a score. On fourth down with the game on the line, Ross found Broadwater who made a diving catch for a first down. However, the Tornado defense sealed the game on an interception by Chase Davis.

"He started scrambling, once you start that scramble mode anything happens," Carr said on the interception. "He's been a kid all through his career that's the kind of plays he's always made is to find that open guy. I don't think we did a very good job of his receivers trying to run scramble drill there."

For Northern, Ross went 7 for 15 for 98 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

"He had a really good week last week," Carr said about Ross. "We didn't put him in a lot of situations tonight to make a lot of decisions. Most of the passes he was pressured so he didn't have a lot of time to sit back there. Nice ball, looked the safety off to Broadwater so that was a nice play but he's young. He's got a lot of learning to do."

Ethan Seabold had 11 rushes for 15 yards. Hinebaugh had nine rushes for 20. Broadwater had four catches for 65 yards and a touchdown.

For Keyser, Rotruck went 3 for 6 for 17 yards and a touchdown. He also rushed 10 times for 35 yards. Root had 18 rushes for 108 yards and a score. Mele had 13 rushes for 67 yards and a touchdown. Kingman rushed nine times for 113 yards and a touchdown. Keller had one catch for 20 yards and a score.

"I really thought they did great," Stephen said of the three running backs. "Our fullback game with Kingman, with Root and Mele, they run the ball hard so that's all we ask from them. They did what asked them to do. We said if he can get us four yards, that's great and we were able to bust some."

Both teams are on the road next week. Northern travels to face Petersburg on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Keyser travels to face John Marshall in Glen Dale, West Virginia on Friday at 7 p.m.

"Monday's not a Monday," Carr said. "Monday's like a Tuesday so we're gonna watch a little film, we're gonna get after it. We're not gonna be taking it easy on anybody. I told them it's gonna be a tough week of practice, so I told them to be ready."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.