MORGANTOWN – University quarterback Logan Holgorsen shook off two weeks of downtime due to a high-ankle sprain by tossing four touchdowns as the Hawks rolled to a 46-19 win over Buckhannon-Upshur High School on Friday.
Holgorsen, the son of WVU head coach Dana Holgorsen, injured his ankle in a Sept. 28 game against St. Albans but wasted no time getting the Hawks on the scoreboard Friday. B-U received the opening kickoff but went three-and-out, and a shanked punt gave University good field position to start their first drive.
It took Holgorsen just two minutes to march the Hawks into the endzone, with a touchdown pass to Amir Richardson capping the seven-play drive.
The Bucs got their offense purring on the next drive, going 49 yards on seven plays, but turned the ball over on downs after a failed conversion on fourth-and-three.
University took over with four minutes left in the fourth quarter, but the B-U defense forced them into a three-and-out. The Bucs faired little better on their next possession and were also forced to punt.
With 2:43 left in the first quarter, the Hawks again marched down the field, going 57 yards in 3:30. Holgorsen connected with Evan Parrow for a 4-yard touchdown to put the game at 14-0.
Buckhannon-Upshur’s offense responded with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that featured a 36-yard pass from quarterback Ryan Strader to Dash Davis. Casey Hamner rumbled into the endzone from one yard out and Cameron Zuliani nailed the extra point to cut the University lead to a single TD at 14-7 early in the second quarter.
But Holgorsen and Parrow proved to be a prolific duo, with the two hooking up again on University’s next drive to put the game at 21-7.
B-U fumbled on their next play, and Holgorsen found Parrow in the endzone for the third time as University went up 28-7.
As the clock dipped under four minutes, the first half still had some theatrics left. On Buckhannon-Upshur’s next drive, Strader threw an interception to Parrow, but Curtis Helton forced a fumble and the Bucs recovered to retain possession.
Then Strader threw another interception – yes, to Parrow – and the Hawks held on to the ball this time. They would boot a 20-yard field goal to put the score at 31-7 going into intermission.
The second half would be more of the same, although University would transition to the ground to keep the clock rolling. A pair of rushing touchdowns put the game out of reach at 46-7.
The Bucs finally got back on the board late in the fourth quarter when Borgy Tenney broke free on a 28-yard touchdown run to put the game at 46-13. The Bucs recovered the pooch kick, and Jacob Loudin scored on a 22-yard run to out the game at the final score of 46-19.
Holgorsen went 18-for-28 for 159 yards and four touchdowns. Logan Raber would also break 100 yards rushing as the Hawks amassed 345 yards of total offense.
The Bucs, meanwhile, racked up 174 total yards, mostly on the ground. Strader was the team’s lead rusher, accounting for 45 of their 121 yards, and the quarterback was also 3-for-10 in the air for 53 yards.
The loss was the fourth straight for Buckhannon-Upshur, who fell to 2-5 on the season. They’ll return home this week to take on Brooke before traveling to Preston County. The regular season will draw to a close on Nov. 2 as the Bucs host Elkins.
