HS Football Playoffs: Independence seeks to take a bite out of the Bulldogs

No. 5 Doddridge County invades George Covey Field Friday

picture courtesy of Stacy Pack-Miller

Friday night at George D. Covey Field there will an invasion from the north.

Doddridge County to be exact.

The No. 5-seed Bulldogs will bring their undefeated record and a high powered offense to Coal City for a Class AA quarterfinal clash with No. 4-seed Independence.

"I think one of the best compliments I can give them is they just play hard," Independence head coach John H. Lilly said. "They fly to the ball and play with extreme effort. They are impressive."

Doddridge County made the jump to AA this year after a highly successful stint in Class A.

The Bulldogs have made the Class A playoffs every year since 2017. Over that span, Doddridge made four semifinal appearances and finished as the state runner-up in 2019.

After averaging 41 points per game in the regular season, the Bulldogs took a serious bite out of No. 12-seed Logan in the opening round of the playoffs, 52-7.

Doddridge picked off five early passes and converted four of them into scores to build a 26-0 lead and never looked back.

Four different Bulldogs have rushed for over 400 yards and scored at least five touchdowns.

Sophomore Lyric Blake leads the way with 1,198 yards and 15 touchdowns, while senior Brycen Eidel has 622 yards and 10 end zone visits.

Senior quarterback Brysen Dixon has completed 63 percent of his passes for 1,574 yards and 26 touchdowns. Even more impressive, Dixon has only two interceptions over 135 attempts.

Landon Thomas is the top target with 34 catches for 482 yards and 10 touchdowns.

The first round win for the Patriots was not quite as easy.

Independence held a 14-10 halftime lead before pulling away in the second half for a 42-17 victory over Lincoln.

"I think we will be a little bit better this week. I'm not sure if it was a stomach bug, but it was one of those things (Friday)," Lilly explained. "We had one throwing up his toe-nails at halftime and another that had to be taken to the hospital. It just hit us like Thursday night and Friday morning. It was a tough one."

The veteran coach also gave the visitors from Shinnston plenty of credit for their effort.

"I have to tip my hat to Lincoln too. That (quarterback) was hot. They were the underdog and threw it nearly 50 times," Lilly said. "It was a great game plan. They slowed it down and we didn't get but like, three possessions in the first half."

The Bulldogs beat the Cougars, 53-20 in their ninth game of the season on Halloween.

Independence did most of its damage through the air, led by quarterback Brock Green.

After throwing for just under 2,500 yards, a new single season record, Green had 282 yards on 16 completions and two touchdown last Friday.

Christian Linksweiler and K.J. Viars combined for 12 catches and 250 yards.

Linksweiler and Viars have led a solid core of receivers for the Patriots which includes Kaden Bradbury, Cole Laxton and Micah Cuthbert.

"They have done really well and we expected them to. You have two seniors on the outside that are three-year starters," Lilly said. "When Laxton is at the wide receiver, you have another returner. We have a deep core of wide receivers."

Lilly talked about what he feels will be the keys to securing a win and earning another trip to the state semifinals.

"Anytime you have a game between No. 4 and No. 5, you just can't give up explosive (plays)," Lilly said. "Make everybody earn what they get and special teams always come into play in these games. I think it will be fun game and an exciting game."

The winner will play the victor between No. 1 Frankfort and No. 8 Mingo Central in the semifinal round.