Indians football team falls to 0-9
by Jamie Harris
The Berkeley Springs Indians traveled to Baker to face the East Hardy Cougars. The trip turned out not to be a pleasant one as the host Cougars dropped the Indians by the score of 59-27. The loss dropped Berkeley Springs to 0-9 on the season.
The Indians jumped out in front of the Cougars 3-0 on a Zach Wise 36 yard field goal. Berkeley Springs took the opening drive and moved down the field on a long completion from Mark Cowles to junior tight-end Preston Hovermale for 25 yards.
East Hardy came right back and tied the game with a field of their own, after the Indian defense clamped down and kept the Cougars out of the end zone.
Berkeley Springs next possession ended on a three and out as East Hardy sacked Cowles twice for huge losses. Wise’s punt was returned back to the Indians 30 yard line. From there the Indian defense forced a fumble and the Tribe was back in business.
A Brady Tritapoe 11 yard run on third down gave the Indians a new set of downs from their 45 yard line. From there the Cougars held their ground to force an Indian punt. Punter Wise took the high snap rolled left and down the sideline for a 20 yard gain and another first down for the Tribe. After a Cowles completion moved the ball to the Cougar 26 yard line, the Indians were forced to attempt a 43 yard field goal to try and put points on the board after the 14 play drive. Wise’s attempt was no good and the Indians turned the ball over.
East Hardy then put together an 11 play drive that saw their quarterback take the ball in from 40 yards for a Cougar touchdown. The extra point attempt was no good and the Indians trailed 9-3.
The Indians received the kickoff and the offense sputtered as the Cougar defense forced another fourth down. A Wise punt gave the ball back to East Hardy. It took the Cougars only two plays to reach the end zone as their quarterback hit a long completion for the score. The extra point attempt was no good, but East Hardy was now up 15-3.
On the Indians next possession, Cowles was picked off by the Cougar defense.
The Indian defense stepped up and forced East Hardy to punt. Indian return man Preston Hovermale fielded the ball at his 20, went straight up the middle seam, and then used a nice cutback to avoid the Cougar punter and raced to the end zone for an 80 yard punt return touchdown. Wise’s extra point kick was good, and late in the second quarter Berkeley Springs trailed, 15-10.
East Hardy took the ensuing kickoff and quickly marched down the field in five plays. The Cougars scored on a 20 yard touchdown run. The extra point was good and the Cougars led 22-10.
Berkeley Springs looking to keep pace put together an impressive six play offensive drive that was capped off by a Wise 20 yard field goal to cut the score to 22-13.
Hovermale’s interception on East Hardy’s next drive quickly shifted the momentum back to Berkeley Springs. The Indians ran two plays before the clock expired to end the first half of action.
The Indians headed into the locker room with momentum and trailing 22-13.
A key point in the first half was the defensive effort. They had held the pass happy Cougar offense to a 4/15 effort in the first half and the defensive scheme and coverage’s were giving East Hardy fits. But things were about to change in the second half.
East Hardy received the second half kickoff and used two plays to cap off a 65 yard touchdown run by their quarterback. The extra point kick was good and they took back the momentum and put a bigger gap between them and the Indians 29-13.
Berkeley Springs next possession resulted in a three and out, and the Indians were forced to punt the ball back to East Hardy.
The Cougar offense went back to work and used a six play drive that resulted in a 29 yard touchdown pass. The extra point attempt was blocked and the score was 35-13.
Berkeley Springs next possession was just like the last one, another three and out with a Wise punt.
East Hardy quickly drove down the field and scored again on a short touchdown pass. The extra point was good and the Cougars padded their lead 42-13.
Another three and out by the Indians with a punt gave the ball back to East Hardy.
The Cougar offense took only four plays to reach the end zone with the third straight touchdown pass. The extra point was no good and the score was 48-13.
With the revolving theme of three and out along with punts found the Cougars with the ball back. Once again another Cougar touchdown pass found its mark. The extra point was no good, and the Indians found themselves down 54-13.
Berkeley Springs entered the fourth quarter needing some type of boost from the offense. The Indians put together an impressive eight play, 65 yard drive that was capped off by a nice run by Tyler Zinzow who found the end zone from 25 yards out. Wise connected on the extra point and the score was 54-20.
The Indian defense held and forced a Cougar punt.
Taking only four plays the Indian offense struck again. Zinzow took the handoff from Cowles and found a nice running lane and raced 65 yards for another Indian score. Wise’s extra point was good, and Berkeley Springs cut into the East Hardy lead 54-27.
From there both teams traded possessions and neither found the end zone again.
Offensively Berkeley Springs was led by running back Zinzow who finished the game with 100 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns. Wise kicked two field goals and also connected on three extra point attempts. Hovermale’s 80 yard punt return for a touchdown rounded out the scoring.
Defensively, Steven Wolfe led the Tribe with six tackles, while Hovermale had an interception. Trevor Holt recovered a fumble and Brady Beahm recorded a quarterback sack.
The Indians (0-9) will be at home this coming Friday night as they host Northern Garrett, Md. This will be senior night for the members of the Indian football, cheer and band programs.
