Published: October 12, 2008 12:27 am         

Patriots honor Moody; Marion does it big ... again

A lot of people considered the Independence High School football press box to have belong to Charlie Moody.

Now it’s official.

Before the Patriots’ game with Summers County Friday night, a ceremony honored the school’s longtime clock operator, who died in the spring of 2007.

A plaque was given to Moody’s family and another was placed in the press box, which was renamed the Charles Moody Press Box.

“Last year we had a night for Mr. Moody and honored his family, but we didn’t make any kind of dedication,” Independence athletic director Tom Poe said. “This year we thought it was appropriate to honor him for his years of service to our school, county and region, and we came up with the idea of something permanent.”

Moody spent much of his life around young people. He also ran the clock at Independence girls and boys basketball games, and in the spring he umpired numerous high school and youth league softball and baseball games.

He was also a familiar face at the Raleigh County Armory (now the Convention Center), where he was a security guard.

Moody died at age 80, a few hours after officiating an Independence softball game.

“Mr. Moody was always there at all levels of games,” Poe said. “It’s appropriate to honor his memory for what he meant to us.”

It looks like Da’Von Marion has topped himself.

Last week, the Class A all-state running back earned runner-up state Player of the Week honors for gaining 239 yards and scoring three touchdowns in Mount Hope’s 46-7 win over Midland Trail.

Friday night, in a 44-0 rout of Valley, Marion returned the opening kickoff for 76 yards for a touchdown. He later ran from scrimmage for scores of 63, 41 and 47 yards.

Late in the third quarter, he fired a 26-yard TD pass to Eric Cannaday.

He finished the game with over 300 total yards.

Next Friday, he’ll get his biggest test of the season as the 6-0 Mustangs travel to Fayetteville (6-1), which defeated old nemesis Parkersburg Catholic 45-28.

Some other outstanding performances from Friday night:

Fayetteville running back Drew Weis keyed the win over Parkersburg Catholic with 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Pirates quarterback Angelo Hernandez hit 8 of 14 passes for 127 yards and one score.

Nicholas County quarterback Pat O’Dell threw for 189 yards and four touchdowns in a 65-18 win over Liberty.

O’Dell had TD strikes of 29, 5, 21 and 35 yards. He was intercepted once.

Teammate Wade McKinney also had a fine evening, running for 161 yards and two touchdowns.

Pocahontas County’s Dexter Skidmore ran for 164 yards and three touchdowns as the Class A Warriors turned back Class AA power Greenbrier West 32-7.

Last week, Skidmore tallied 201 yards and five touchdowns in a 56-20 win over Wirt County.

Quarterback Mike Callison completed 7 of 9 passes for 176 yards and one score as the Warriors, ranked No. 5 in Class A, improved to 7-0.

Wyoming East’s Rob Harley gained 146 yards and had two TDs in a tough 14-6 win over Iaeger.

The Warriors moved to 5-1 with the win.

Dustin Brown ran for 116 yards and three scores as Richwood picked up its first victory of the campaign, 42-22 over Tygarts Valley.

Independence quarterback Jeremy Buchanan threw for 119 yards and one score and ran 44 yards for another touchdown in a 29-14 win over Summers County.

Shady Spring’s Eric Lucas ran for 190 yards and two touchdown as the Tigers edged Sherman 18-14.

Besides the Mount Hope-Fayetteville matchup, some key games next week include Greenbrier East at James Monroe, Greenbrier West at Webster County, Liberty at Independence, Scott at Shady Spring, Woodrow Wilson at Riverside and Wyoming East at Westside.