Game Report: St. Marys at Doddridge County (Defense)

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The St. Marys Blue Devils made the short trip to Doddridge County to face the Bulldogs at the beautiful Cline Stansberry Stadium on a rare Wednesday night game for the WVSSAC 2023 Kickoff Game to begin the new season. Weather pushed back kickoff 20 minutes for the rainy and foggy game that saw a close first half before the Blue Devils pulled away in the 4th quarter by a score of 34-14. Both teams graduated large chunks of their production a season ago but there are plenty of names to know on both sidelines. Here are the defensive players that stood out during tonight's clash of the Blue Devils and Bulldogs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">St. Marys Blue Devils</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>LB: [player_tooltip player_id='370470' first='Josiah' last='DeMoss'] '24</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Wow. I knew DeMoss was a gamer but he played out of his mind tonight. The senior linebacker picked off THREE passes returning one for a touchdown right before halftime which completely altered the momentum of the game giving his team a 12-6 lead. He was also responsible for another interception deflecting a pass that teammate [player_tooltip player_id='1104876' first='Ashton' last='Boron'] caught for a pick. DeMoss was all over the field tonight on defense terrorizing the Doddridge County quarterbacks. He also saw time at fullback and got his team some tough yards in short-yardage situations and some big first downs. His offensive role will likely increase during the season but he certainly made his case for increasing his All-State selection to First Team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DL: [player_tooltip player_id='370471' first='Ben' last='Wagstaff'] '24</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Big #77 [player_tooltip player_id='370471' first='Ben' last='Wagstaff'] put together a nice game in the trenches on both sides of the ball tonight. He had numerous stops for no gain or very short gains and the 6'0 260 big man was a load to handle for a stout Doddridge County offensive line. Wagstaff also had a big TFL and made a great play on a busted Doddridge County punt tackling the scrambling punter well short of the first down for a turnover on downs. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DB: Shane Moran '24</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Shane Moran made a couple of nice plays tonight for the Blue Devils. Moran is a WR and DB who had a big hit for a PBU on defense. He leveled an opposing sure-handed receiver and dislodged the pass. Moran also caught a big two-point conversion on offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>LB: Sam Miller '24</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Sam Miller is a versatile player who wears two numbers and lines up at fullback, center, and linebacker. He opened some holes tonight at fullback for Boron and Co. and was a big part of their rushing success. However, it was on defense where Miller made a huge forced fumble in the 4th quarter and recovered it as well. This would shut the door on Doddridge County thinking about a comeback and put the game away for the Blue Devils.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DL: [player_tooltip player_id='1583914' first='Brodrick' last='Rice'] '25</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2025 TE/DE [player_tooltip player_id='1583914' first='Brodrick' last='Rice'] made a few standout plays tonight on offense and defense. Rice caught a two-point conversion from his tight end spot on offense. He also had a nice pass deflection at the line of scrimmage while also making a sack. Rice was active tonight and a nice spark at key moments.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Doddridge County Bulldogs</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>LB: [player_tooltip player_id='1119882' first='Kendall' last='Huffman'] '24</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2024 LB/FB [player_tooltip player_id='1119882' first='Kendall' last='Huffman'] was all over the field tonight on defense for the Bulldogs. The Tyler Consolidated transfer took over the middle linebacker spot and made his name known. He had at least 3 TFLs tonight and is a strong and physical player. Huffman got in the backfield consistently and wrecked quite a few of St. Marys' run plays. He also had some hard runs on offense at fullback and scored a 1-yard touchdown. I was very impressed with the '24 athlete tonight.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DL: [player_tooltip player_id='948781' first='Kale' last='Hart'] '24</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I saw why we had '24 OL/DL [player_tooltip player_id='948781' first='Kale' last='Hart'] on our Second Team Preseason All-State team as a defensive lineman tonight and the 6'2 300 big man was a load to handle. He's one of the bigger linemen in Class A in the state and you could tell he's a tough athlete to go against in the trenches. Hart consistently got good push on both sides of the line and does a great job clogging up the interior.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->