The run-heavy Indians of head man John Cole actually attempted six passes and completed three for 101 yards. The running attack went for 370 stripes on 57 attempts, which offset Patriot signal-caller Sam Schuler’s 16 of 30 showing for 304 yards that included a pair of touchdown strikes, but also three second-half interceptions. Bridgeport, which plays host next Friday to Preston, took the opening kick and marched down the field. Cam Cole’s 23-yard TD toss to Nathan Lhotsky and Austin Springer’s extra point made it 7-0. Following a South three-and-out, the Indians went back to work and Cole, who finished with game-highs of 24 rushes and 210 yards, bulled in from the 1.

Noah Buckalew blocked the extra point to keep it at 13-0 with just 28.4 ticks left in the stanza.

On the ensuing kickoff, Levi Rice fielded it near the Patriots’ sideline, cut across the field and found an open lane en route to an 89-yard kickoff return. Nick Murphy’s PAT cut the deficit to six.

After forcing an Indian punt, the Patriots used a 40-yard grab by Cyrus Traugh along with a 9-yard catch by Gage Wright to help get into the red zone. Devin Gaines, who had 14 carries for 52 yards and three receptions for 24 more, finished off the drive with a direct snap 3-yard TD burst. With 7:21 left before intermission, the Patriots of second-year head coach Nathan Tanner had their first and only lead of the affair.

The Indians answered right back, though, as Cole hit Anthony Dixon for a 23-yard gain. Following a Cole 22-yard dash to the 1, Hayden Moore scored and Taylor Thomas’ extra point made it 20-14 at the 5:46 mark.

Parkersburg South, which dropped to 1-4 and is scheduled to play host to Capital next Friday but will face Fairmont Senior if the Cougars aren’t allowed to compete, faced a fourth-and-7 at its own 35 with a little more than a minute to go. A fake punt by Rice didn’t work out as he was stopped for no gain and six plays later Moore scored from the 1 again for a 28-14 halftime edge.

“The first time we punted we saw they were kind of lax on the edge,” Tanner noted. “We were down one score and at this point in the season we are just looking for any type of momentum we can get. Levi had a big kick return and he had made some big plays.

“My assistant coach Evan Campbell, he put a bug in my ear about it and I looked up and said why not. Our defense was playing well. We went for it. I’ll take that one. In hindsight it was a horrible play, but if we had hit it maybe we’re talking about a different game.”

PSHS opened the third with a 56-yard Schuler to Jake Hogsett touchdown pass to get back to within one possession.

Despite holding the Indians to a three-and-out and forcing a punt, Bridgeport’s Phil Reed intercepted Schuler, which eventually led to an 8-yard J.T. Muller TD run and a 35-21 lead.

The Patriots reached the red zone on their next series, but turned it over on downs. Six plays later Cole darted 67 yards untouched for another six-pointer as the hosts were doubled up, 42-21.

A 12-yard screen to Gaines on third-and-10 followed by a 43-yard catch from Rice got the Patriots right back into the red zone, but Owen Bennington picked off Schuler in the end zone.

It was soon 49-21 when a wide open Landyn Reppert had a 55-yard touchdown reception from Reed.

Following an interception by Reppert, Cole tacked on the final score for the Indians via a 19-yard touchdown run to make it 56-21 with 4:46 to play.

Traugh, who had four grabs for 71 yards, capped the scoring via a 15-yard TD reception with 2:05 remaining.

Hogsett ended with game-highs of five catches for 119 yards while Rice finished with two grabs for 78 yards.

“It hurts bad,” Tanner said of the setback. “I think we are just having some growing pains. Despite the outcome tonight, I do feel the kids got better from last week. They competed a lot harder.”

Moore had 19 carries and rushed for 100 yards while Muller had seven totes for 36 stripes.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com