Morgantown, WV- Twelve hours after West Virginia University made short work of the Maryland Terrapins on ESPN Thursday night a new opponent crept into Morgantown. By the time that the smoke from the couch fires and fireworks cleared it was the Hargrave Military Academy Post Graduate Tigers that emerged as victorious on top of the mountain. Hargrave used a total team effort to defeat the fifth ranked Mountaineers 31-21 Friday afternoon at Mountaineer Stadium on the campus of West Virginia. The Tigers victory was the first ever over the reigning Big East and Sugar Bowl Champions and marked the first time in Hargrave history that the PG’s defeated a junior varsity team whose varsity was ranked in the top five in the country.
Hargrave took little time to make an early statement as University of Tennessee bound kick return man Brent Vinson took the opening kick off 70-yards down to the Mountaineer twenty yard line. From there it took the Tigers just one quick flick of the wrist of quarterback Emanuel Francis to find receiver Ben Finney streaking into the end zone to put the PG’s up 7-0 after the Kyle Hughes extra point.
The Mountaineers would put another score up to take a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter, but the Tigers offense stood up to the challenge. Quarterback Jamie Childers methodically moved Hargrave down the field, even scrambling for 25-yards on third down and ten to keep the drive alive. It wasn’t long after that when he found a wide open Brent Vinson from 50-yards out to tie the score at 14-14 with two minutes remaining in the half.
The Mountaineers did find a hole in the defense and moved the ball down to the 10-yard line, but the Tiger defense bowed their backs and held them on three consecutive plays to force a field goal attempt with thirty seconds remaining in the half. Head coach Robert Prunty’s field goal block unit would come up big on fourth down. The Tigers got a hand on the kick and from the end zone the PG’s would return it all the way down to the WVU forty yard line, but the Tigers could not find the end zone with one play remaining in the half and sent the game into intermission knotted at fourteen.
West Virginia received the ball to start out the second half and proceeded to move it down field for what would be their final score of the game. The Mountaineers ran a screen to the home sideline bench to give them a seven point advantage, but the defense took it personally after that. Led by defensive linemen Ladi Ajiboye, Miguel Chavis, Johnny Hollins, Zach Hillary, Cowles Stewart, Bruce Campbell, Kyle Anderson, Jatrell Rollins, Stanley Randolph, Tal Flinchum, and Clifton Geathers, West Virginia was unable to move the ball any further after the first drive of the second half.
Hargrave would bounce back after being down again. Quarterback Andrew Calantone found a slew of receivers on the first drive for the Tigers. He hit running backs Demetrius Goode and Randell Bell for big gains, Brent Vinson caught a pair of passes, and Ben Finney came up with a big grab to put Hargrave in scoring position. On a third down and goal from the nine yard line, Calantone found Vinson at the goal line for his second score of the game to tie it up again at twenty one a piece.
The defense came on strong again on the next drive. The Tiger secondary played tough all day long and this time came up with another interception inside of West Virginia territory. Jerrell Leak, Jimmaul Simmons, DeAndre McDaniel, Gerald Price, Ras-I Dowling, Brett Orr, Wayne Ferguson, and Vinson all came up big when the game was on the line and gave the ball back to the offense with a golden opportunity to take the lead.
The Tigers moved the ball for a first down, but the drive stalled on the Mountaineer twelve yard line before fourth down loomed on Hargrave. Mr. Automatic, kicker Kyle Hughes, lined up for a 31-yard field goal attempt. Although a WVU finger got a piece of the ball, Hughes blasted it through the uprights to stay perfect on the year and give the Tigers a 24-21 advantage in the fourth quarter.
Hargrave again would come up huge on defense. The linebackers led by Chris Drayton, Almondo Sewell, Jasper Brooks, Russ Wantowski, Clarke Munson, William Johnson, Darrien Davis, and Shane Shead were able to stuff the Mountaineers and force a third down and long situation. This time it was cornerback Jerrell Leak who gave the Tigers another spark with the lead. Leak broke on the pass by the WVU quarterback and found himself on the receiving end of a 35-yard interception return to mid-field with five minutes remaining in the game.
The Tigers could have just as easily run the clock down inside of three minutes, have West Virginia native Jake Fields punt the ball deep, and hope that the Mountaineers not get into field goal range to tie the game, but Hargrave had a different idea. Do not hold back. On the first play from scrimmage from mid-field, quarterback Jamie Childers with tons of time from his offensive line (Justin “Bean” Anderson, Craig Wilson, Bruce Campbell, Justin Keown, Mike Phillips, Tyler Darden, Charlie Byrne, Ben Harden, Billy Cuffee, Kareem Crowell, and Ryan Tillman) launched one down the right sideline and found receiver Livington Senatus on a beautiful touch pass at the one yard line where he clawed his way in for the score to seal the game. Hughes booted the extra point to put the Tigers up 31-21 and gave Hargrave a lead they would not surrender.
The Hargrave defense again stopped the Mountaineers on fourth down and gave the Tigers another chance to close the game out on offense. Backs Richard Parker, Jovan Davis, HB Banjoman, Goode, Bell, tight ends Garrett Utt and Jon Simpson, and receivers Jon Bach, Eric Young, Quintin McCree, Ronnie Tyler, Kendal Burton, Chris Slaughter, Robert White, Finney, and Vinson provided some much needed blocking as time expired.
Although there were no fireworks following the game like the night before, Hargrave found a way to celebrate their victory. In the locker room the chant of “we are Hargrave” rang loud enough to wake up those Mountaineer fans that lived close to the stadium. “This is a big win for our program” said Head Coach Robert Prunty following the game. “This was a total team effort and one of the most unselfish teams to line up and play at Hargrave.” “I’m proud of the effort and fight that they brought off the bus to play this game.” Prunty also was not shy of reflecting on four years that the Mountaineers got the best of Hargrave, “every time we have come up here we have a long, dark bus trip back to Chatham, that’s not the case this time around. God watched over us today keeping us injury free and for that, we need to give him praise” as the Tigers bowed their heads for a team prayer following the game.
The Tigers move to 3-1 on the young season with a hefty load still ahead of them. The PG’s still have to travel to Marshall, Virginia Tech, Kentucky, and a possible make-up date with Navy, among others. The Tigers will solidify their plans for next week’s game this weekend. Please check www.hargrave.edu under the PG Football link on Monday for information on their next opponent.
