Published: November 24, 2007 11:17 pm            

Mavs get Bluefield rematch

WAYNE — The James Monroe Mavericks advanced to the state championship for the first time in school history Saturday night by turning back the previously-unbeaten Pioneers of Wayne High School 21-14 at Pioneer Field on the western edge of West Virginia.

Fired-up Mavericks head coach David Witt said on the field, “We had two backs banged up. Our defensive coordinator is in the hospital and didn’t even make the trip. We told (the players) we’d battle our daggone rear ends off and see what happens.

“Now they’ll quit saying we can’t get by this daggone game!”

The Mavericks did it with a hard-smacking defense that held thousand-yard rusher Jason Thompson to 46 yards on 10 carries.

“You win championships on defense,” Witt said. “You don’t play defense at this time of year, you go home.”

Ernie Tincher provided both defense, with a key third-quarter interception, and offense. He ran for 157 yards on 19 carries, picking up six tough first downs. He ran 17 yards for James Monroe’s first score, and took a pass 43 yards for the next score, which produced the Mavs’ 14-6 halftime lead in combination with Logan Ray’s extra-point kick. The Mavericks’ single-wing offense started without its primary runner Taylor Robertson, limited by a leg injury. Nick Kisiel was also banged up. Both eventually got plenty of work against the talented Pioneer defense.

Robertson gained 75 yards on 18 tries and Kisiel added 37 on nine attempts. Robertson’s four-yard scoring run in the third quarter, and Ray’s point after, increased the visitors’ advantage to 21-6.

Wayne senior Justin Gilkerson scored both touchdowns for the home squad. On the first play of the second quarter, he crashed over from two yards out to close the score to 7-6, but the point-after kick was wide.

Gilkerson took a pass from Joey Ferguson and turned it into a 20-yard touchdown with 8:26 remaining on the clock, setting up a tension-filled final few minutes.

The Mavericks’ John Ballengee picked off Ferguson’s last pass with 37 seconds left to wrap up the win, which ended Wayne’s 19-game winning streak. The Pioneers won the Class AA championship last December 33-6 over Tolsia.

Asked about the disadvantage of injured runners, Tincher said the effort “took heart. And it wasn’t just the people filling their shoes. It was from everybody on the line, everybody on the sidelines, our fans. It took everybody who made the trip to win this semifinal right here.”

The Mavericks move on to face the No. 1-ranked team in Class AA, the Bluefield Beavers, at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wheeling Island Stadium.

— Contact Tom Bone

at tbone@bdtonline.com



At Pioneer Field

James Monroe (12-1)...........7 7 7 0 — 21

Wayne (12-1)......................0 6 0 8 — 14

First Quarter

JMHS – Ernie Tincher 17 run (Logan Ray kick), 7:12

Second Quarter

WHS – Justin Gilkerson 2 run (kick failed), 11:55

JMHS – Tincher 43 pass from Taylor Robertson (Ray kick), 1:02

Third Quarter

JMHS – Robertson 4 run (Ray kick), 5:39

Fourth Quarter

WHS – Gilkerson 20 pass from Joey Ferguson (Brandon Fletcher pass from Ferguson), 8:26

        

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