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Photo by Cody Nespor Parkersburg South’s Braden Whipkey (7) sacks John Marshall quarterback Jacob Coffield (14).

MOUNDSVILLE — Parkersburg South moved up to No. 1 in the WVSSAC rankings this week and looked every bit like the top team in the state against John Marshall Friday night.

The Patriots (5-0) ran the score up on the Monarchs (2-3) to the tune of 55-16 under the lights at Monarch Stadium.

“We knew they were good and they’re good,” confirmed JM coach Mark Cisar. “They’re athletic and made big plays, several big plays.”

Ironically it was John Marshall that made the first big play of the night, forcing and recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff to steal a possession from the visitors. JM was stopped on downs, but its defense stood tall, forcing a turnover on downs of its own.

That’s when South started to take over. Braden Whipkey intercepted JM quarterback Jacob Coffield and the Patriots scored on a 60-yard bomb by Robert Shockey to Mason Reams.

John Marshall worked down the field and Conor Fitpatrick kicked a 42-yard field goal to make it a 7-3 game, but that was the last time the contest would be close.

“We came out and got a turnover right off of the get-go and couldn’t capitalize on it,” Cisar said. “Then we go and we move the ball a little bit, it’s a close game and we kick a field goal. And then it was big play after big play after big play.”

Shockey, South’s junior quarterback, ran South’s first-team offense — which played the entire game despite the inflated lead — flawlessly, throwing for 274 yards and five touchdowns while rushing for 72 more yards and another score. Reams caught five passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns.

“They have a very good line and they’ve got athletes,” Cisar said. “When they get the ball in their hands, they make plays. One (defender) doesn’t take them down. They can take a screen play and turn it into a long play right from the get-go and they did that several times tonight.”

South scored on plays of 60, 39, 28 47 and 22 yards with three more touchdowns from within 10 yards. John Marshall’s defense would play well at times, only for South to hit on a big play and negate it.

“It can’t just be at times,” Cisar stressed. “We’ve got to put together a full game where we play well the whole time, every play. We’ve got to be more disciplined and we’ve got to make big plays on both sides of the ball time and time again. Not just one good play and three bad plays or two good plays in a row and the next one’s bad. We need to make consecutive plays in a row on offense and defense.”

South led 41-10 withabout 20 seconds left in the first half, but was apparently not satisfied with its 31-point lead as the Patriots called all three of their timeouts to try and get the ball back one more time from JM.

The Monarchs converted a fourth down, however, and decided to be aggressive themselves, as Coffield threw a 45-yard pass to Demario White that seemed destined for the endzone until the turf monster tripped him up.

South continued to play its starters throughout the second half. However, playing with a 38-point lead was when the Patriots’ offense was at its worst. Shockey threw an interception to Klypson Wallace and then the Patriots had a field goal blocked during the running-clock fourth quarter.

Neither team played a clean game as there were 29 combined penalties. The Patriots were flagged 18 times for 149 yards and the Monarchs drew 11 for 109.

Coffield threw for 170 yards and ran in a score for the Monarchs, who were held to just 18 rushing yards on the night. Brennan Sobutka threw a 24-yard touchdown to Wesley Highes on a trick play in the second quarter. Hughes finished with six receptions for 135 yards, but had a 40-plus yard catch wiped out because of a holding penalty.

John Marshall is on bye next week, which will give the team plenty of time to rebound from the loss before playing Keyser on Oct. 7.

“We’ve got to get better, we just got our butts kicked,” Cisar said. “They’re the No. 1 team in the state, they’re lighting the scoreboard up and playing really well right now. That’s where we want to get to. We’ve got five games left and we’re hoping to make the playoffs. We don’t care how we get in, we want to get in, but that’s the kind of teams you’re going to play if you get into the playoffs.”

PS — Reams pass 60 from Shockey (Jones kick)

PS — Traugh pass 39 from Shockey (kick blocked)

PS — Wright run 28 (Jones kick)

PS — Reams pass 47 from Shockey (Jones kick)

JM — Hughes pass 24 from Bre. Sobutka (Fitzpatrick kick)

PS — Traught pass 10 from Shockey (Jones kick)

PS — Reames pass 22 from Shockey (Jones kick)

PS — Shockey run 1 (Jones kick)

PS — Wright run 1 (Jones kick)

JM — Coffield run 14 (pass failed)

RUSHING: Parkersburg South 28-155-3td (Shockey 12-72-td; Wright 10-89-2td; Traugh 1-(-6); Blackwell 4-2; Forshey 1-(-2)). John Marshall 31-18-td (Coffield 22-14-td; Wallace 8-13; Hughes 1-(-9)).

PASSING: Parkersburg South 15-19 274-5td-int (all Shockey). John Marshall 11-23 194-td-int (Coffield 10-22 170-int; Bre. Sobutka 1-1 24-td).

RECEIVING: Parkersburg South 15-274-5td (Reams 5-151-3td; Traugh 4-61-2td; Walker 3-62; Wright 1-0). John Marshall Hughes 6-135-td; Riding 1-5; White 1-45; Bra. Sobutka 1-3; Wallace 2-6).

FIRST DOWNS: Parkersburg South 17. John Marshall 9.

FUMBLES: Parkersburg South 2-2. John Marshall 3-2.

PENALTIES: Parkersburg South 18-149. John Marshall 11-109.

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