WEST FORK — Behind another steady performance from Wil Jarnagan and an impressive showing by their defense, the West Fork Tigers are now in sole possession of first place in the 1-3A after a 38-7 victory over Mountain View Friday night.
Thanks to Greenland’s 27-0 victory over Elkins, the Tigers now have a onegame lead over the Elks, who West Fork travels toplay next Friday night.
“We’re not worried about being No. 1 [in the conference] in Week 9,” West Fork Coach Rodney Selph said. “Hopefully we can have a good week of practice and get prepared. Elkins is a good football team, and it’s going to be atough game.”
West Fork (6-2, 5-0 1-3A) forced a three-and-out by Mountain View on the game’s first possession, setting the tone on defense.
The Tigers then thought they had answered with a touchdown pass on fourthand-6 from Dylan Harrison to Tyler Dewitt, but it was waved off and they turned it over on downs.
West Fork then forced a fumble by Mountain View, but fumbled it right back to the Yellowjackets four plays later.
Mountain View (3-5, 1-4 1-3A) went on a drive that almost ran out the remainder of the first quarter but the Tigers held and eventually forced a punt.
On third-and-13 late in the first quarter, Harrison found Dewitt again from 41 yards out and it wasn’t called back, giving the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
The second quarter saw a steady burst of Jarnagan, who finished off a 14-play, 45-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge to take a 14-0 lead.
After forcing a three-andout before the end of the first half, Harrison found Dewitt again, this one a 38-yard scoring pass, and West Fork led 21-0 at intermission.
West Fork took the ballout of halftime and proceeded to go on a clock-eating drive that ended with a 28-yard field goal by Griff Smith to lead 24-0.
The Tigers then forced a punt on the ensuing possession, taking over at midfield, and went on a fourplay drive that culminated in Harrison’s third touchdown pass, this one to Griff Smith from 28 yards away to lead 31-0.
Graham Klemmedson finished off West Fork’s scoring with a 5-yard touchdown run with 6:36 to play to invoke the mercy rule.
Mountain View’s Nate Williams scored the Yellowjackets’ only touchdown with a 1-yard run with :49 left in the game.
Harrison finished 8 of 14 for 174 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Jarnagan busted out 128 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown.
“I thought they played outstanding,” Selph said. “Dylan’s getting better and better each week throwing the football, and we’re going to need that from him because we can’t just run the ball, run the ball. With him starting to throw the ball well, we feel good about our running game and hopefully we can keep that balance.”
Sports, Pages 24 on 10/23/2010