Prep football: Poca downs Buffalo in battle of Putnam County

"Kam made a lot of good plays outside the pocket tonight," Poca coach Seth Ramsey said. "Kam had a real good game. Jack [McClanahan] had a real good game. We just got to get things going in the run game."

Buffalo (0-1) seemed to have the defensive plan in place to get its first win of the season. The Bison defense limited Poca running back Spencer Jones to 82 yards rushing. Much of that was in the second half, when the Dots made adjustments to get the rushing attack to work.

In the first half, though, Buffalo had no answers for McBride and McClanahan.

McBride passed for 210 yards, completing 7 of 14 attempts. McClanahan brought in five passes for 161 yards.

McClanahan got Poca on the scoreboard midway through the first quarter, pulling down a jump ball from McBride for a 29-yard touchdown. Although the 2-point conversion failed, the Dots held a 6-0 lead at the 4:48 mark of the first quarter.

Poca stretched the lead following Buffalo’s next offensive possession. The Bison were forced to punt, and McClanahan returned the kick 73 yards for a 12-0 Dots lead with 1:55 to play in the period.

Scoring opened in the second quarter with McClanahan hauling in another McBride pass – this one for a 66-yard catch-and-run. A pass to DJ Combs made it 20-0 for the Dots at the 11:50 mark of the second quarter.

McBride added two rushing touchdowns to go along with his two passing scores.

McBride’s 19-yard TD run made it 26-0. A bobbled snap on the extra-point try was handled by Colton Dunbar, who ran it in for a 28-0 Dots lead at the break. A 3-yard run by the QB with 6:15 to play in the third quarter made it 34-0.

A missed extra point by Poca prevented the Dots from using a running clock to finish the game.

With its passing game floundering, Buffalo used quarterback Hunter Rutan to move the ball with his feet. Rutan rushed 14 times for 55 yards, unofficially, to lead the Bison.

Rutan had a chance to get Buffalo on the scoreboard stripped from him when Poca’s Daniel Burns forced a fumble inside the Dots’ 9-yard-line and returned the ball deep into Bison territory. That set up one of Poca’s first-half scores.

The Bison QB found Grant Weaver for a score with 2:07 to play to spoil Poca’s shutout.

"It's hard to look at the scoreboard and say your defense played good, but I thought our defense played well enough to win," Buffalo coach Andy Anderson said. 

Poca’s victory spoiled a night for Buffalo in which the school recognized its inductees to the Hall of Fame, with a formal ceremony scheduled for Saturday. 

Aside from Anderson's debut, the Bison inducted Chuck Elkins, Ali Burdette, Rachele Scott-Jeffries, Adam Scott, Josh Raynes, Jack Erwin, Bob Anthony and Larry Legg, along with the 2002 softball team, the first Buffalo club to win a state championship.

Dawson Lucas, son of former Buffalo and West Virginia State football player Dylan Lucas, was at midfield for the game’s opening coin toss. The 21-month-old Dawson is battling a rare genetic disorder called GM1 that has no known cure.

POCA 12 16 6 0 -- 34

BUFFALO 0 0 0 6 -- 6

P – McClanahan 29 pass from McBride (run failed).

P – McClanahan 73 punt return (run failed).

P – McClanahan 66 pass from McBride (Combs pass from McBride).

P – McBride 19 run (Dunbar run).

P – McBride 3 run (kick failed).

B – Weaver 7 pass from Rutan (pass failed).

P B

First downs 16 12

Rushes-yards 30-120 18-100

Passes 7-14-0 11-29-1

Passing yards 210 81

Total yards 330 181

Fumbles-lost 2-2 3-1

Penalties-yards 10-114 6-65

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: (P) Jones 21-86, Carroll 1-5, McBride 6-26, Bragg 2-3; (B) Rutan 14-55, Bonnet 8-45.

PASSING: (P) McBride 7-14-0, 210 yards; (B) Rutan 11-29-1, 81.

RECEIVING: (P) McClanahan 5-161, Combs 1-45, Cook 1-4; (B) Harris 3-41, Randolph 3-26, Weaver 2-7, Bonnet 2-4, Webb 1-3.