Shady Spring falls 22-0 to Wayne

By Randy Payton

WAYNE — On a night when its normally high-octane offense sputtered, the Wayne Pioneers laid their post-season fate in the hands of an oft-overlooked defensive unit – and deliver they did.

The third-ranked Pioneers forced four Shady Spring turnovers — two of which came inside the Wayne 5-yard line — en route to a hard-fought 22-0 win over the 14th-ranked Tigers in the opening round of the Class AA playoffs, last night, at Pioneer Field.

Wayne, which improved to 10-1 with the win, will host No. 11 Bluefield – a 39-14 winner over sixth-seeded Scott – in next week’s quarterfinal round. A date and time will be determined Sunday morning in Parkersburg.

Shady Spring, which was making its first playoff appearance since falling to Wayne in the 2004 Class AA semifinals, finished 6-5 with the loss.

“We aren’t going to win any Oscars for great performances tonight, but we were efficient enough to move on to the next round and that’s all that matters,” said Wayne head coach Tom Harmon.

The Tigers were limited to just eight first downs and managed only 50 yards on 26 carries as a team, while finishing with 193 yards of total offense.

“I though the big key was that we didn’t let them consistently run the football on us,” Harmon added. “We were able to force a couple of critical turnovers at key times. With the exception of the two long passes they completed and my coaching blunder for calling a blitz on a screen pass, I thought we were pretty solid all night.”

Still, Wayne led just 6-0 late in the third quarter when quarterback Joey Ferguson scored on a 41-yard touchdown run to cap a 10-play, 98-yard drive and push the lead to 14-0 following his PAT conversion pass to Adam Frazier with 5:01 left in the period.

Ferguson maintained his balance despite a slippery surface and hits from two would-be tacklers for Shady before winning a foot race to the endzone.

“That play really broke our backs,” said Shady Spring head coach Vince Culicerto. “We had a couple of that stayed home, they just didn’t make the play. I can’t discredit my defense, though. He slipped out of there and he kept churning. He’s been in those kinds of situations before and he did a heck of a job.”

The drive was setup when Josh Meddings intercepted a pass by Shady Spring quarterback Josh Weeks at the Wayne 2-yard line.

“We established running it off-tackle for 50-some yards and then we were able to counter that by getting them to take a false step as our senior leader was making an out of ordinary play,” Harmon said.

Weeks was also intercepted at the Wayne 1-yard line by Dustin Shreve on the Tigers’ first possession of the night.

In addition to the two turnovers inside the 5-yard line, Shady also had drives end of downs at the Wayne 12- and 27-yard lines.

“We got close a couple times, but just couldn’t get in. That’s how it goes sometimes,” said Culicerto. “I give credit to Wayne’s defense, though. They buckled down when we got into the red zone and kept us out.”

Wayne grabbed a 6-0 lead on a 14-yard touchdown pass from wingback Adam Frazier to wideout Scottie Fry with 7:50 left in the opening half.

The Pioneers final touchdown came on a 1-yard run by Jason Thompson with 3:47 left in the contest.

Corey Damron had a game-high 96 yards and 15 carries to lead Wayne, while Thompson finished with 84 yards on 21 rushing attempts.

For Shady Spring, Weeks finished 14-for-26 for 143 yards, but was intercepted three times.

“We held our own for a long time, we just couldn’t finish it off,” Culicrto said. “This was an outstanding year for us, though. To get where we did after running into some injury problems during the season, I’m proud of the kids. They wanted to make the playoff and they worked hard to get here. I think we showed some people we could play.”