’Dogs hold off Sherando for 35th in row
OCT 6, 2018
RICK KOZLOWSKI
Sports Editor
Martinsburg defender A.J. Brinegar (60) loses his helmet as he sacks Sherando quarterback Hunter Entsminger (8) with help from Anthony Smith (9) during the second quarter Friday evening in Martinsburg. See more photos on CU.journal-news.net (Journal photo by Ron Agnir)
MARTINSBURG — OK, so now Martinsburg can actually think about the state record for consecutive victories.
The Bulldogs pulled away from and then held off Sherando, Virginia, on Friday night at packed Cobourn Field as undefeated teams matched up in a 50-45 victory by Martinsburg
Martinsburg won for the 35th straight time in a game that lived up to its billing.
The Bulldogs can tie the state record of 36 wins in a row when they host Hedgesville next week.
It was an impressive offensive display by the Bulldogs, who moved to 7-0 and dropped Sherando to 5-1.
Naieem Kearney ran for more than 100 yards and quarterback Grant Harman also surpassed 100 on the ground. Kearney had 142 and Harman 159
Martinsburg played the game without star running back/linebacker Dewayne Grantham, who has committed to play football at West Virginia University.
Once Martinsburg went three and out on its opening series, there seemed to be no stopping either team.
Sherando scored first, needing just two plays to move 70 yards, the touchdown coming on a Hunter Entsminger pass to a wide-open Nick Mazza.
Sherando stopped Martinsburg on the ensuing series, but Trey Sine’s 46-yard punt stuck the Warriors at their 1-yard line, and Martinsburg held.
Jarod Bowie returned a short punt to the Sherando 15, where Martinsburg used three plays and scored on Grant Harman’s quarterback draw from 12 yards away. That touchdown tied the game at 7.
Bowie caught a flip pass from Harman on Martinsburg’s next series and raced 37 yards for a touchdown to give the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead that lasted only 13 seconds as T.J. Washington took the kickoff 83 yards for a touchown.
Matt Vanduzer returned the kickoff 36 yards to the 50, leading to a seven-play drive that ended with a Chris Catlett 25-yard field goa for Martinsburg.
Washington’s 51-yard touchdown run on the third play of the Warriors’ next possession put Sherando up 21-17 with 7:43 left in the second quarter.
It was Martinsburg’s turn to strike quickly, however.
Elijah Banks, working in at quarterback every now and then, hit Chelo Teneval on a 65-yard pass play to put Martinsburg into the lead again.
Tenevel caught one more touchdown pass, this one from Harman for a uniform number-matching 7 yards in the final minute of the first half. A blocked point-after kick left Martinsburg ahead 30-21 at halftime.
The two Martinsburg quartebacks combined to throw for 221 yards in the first half.
Martinsburg opened the scoring in the second half, with a 43-yard drive that took 4:51. Banks threw a quick slant to Bowie for a 1-yard touchdown on fourth down, taking the lead to 37-21.
Sherando struck quickly, though, as Joseph Doleman took a direct snap on third down, quickly burst through the line and found clear sailing for a 58-yard touchdown run.
Barely a minute later, though, Martinsburg countered with a 10-yard touchdown run by Kearney, who got the start in place of Grantham at running back, taking the lead to 43-28. The score was set up by Bowie’s 64-yard kickoff return on a reverse.
Sherando pulled to within 41-31 on Jack Hedren’s 42-yard field goal with 11:03 left in the game.
But Harman ran 6 yards for a TD, one play after his 27-yard run extended Martinsburg’s lead to 50-31.
Mazza got behind the defense for a 77-yard touchdown reception with 5:21 left. He caught the two-point pass from Entsminger, who ran all over the place to escape a pass rush, and Sherando narrowed its gap.
Then the Warriors recovered an onside kick.
However, Anthony Smith made an acrobatic interception, snagging it with one hand and moving it to the other to finish the play.
Sherando scored once more as Entsminger scored on a 6-yard reception in a trick play.
This time, though, Sherando could not recover an onside kick with 5.6 seconds left, and Martinsburg finished a victory as Harman took a knee on the next snap.