Box Score Bridgeport High School football coach Tyler Phares will be quick to tell you that if you want to see playing time in the backfield for his team, you are going to have to block.
Cam Martin, a talented back with the ball in his hand, didn't have one single carry in Friday's 28-21 victory for the Class AAA No. 7 Indians against an extremely talented Linsly (4-5) team in the first-ever meeting between the two schools at Wayne Jamison Field.
Yet, Martin had the play of the game with a bone-crushing, de-cleating block that was every bit as crucial as it was devastating. It set Zach Rohrig loose for a 3-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-3 for what proved to be the game-winner.
"That's what it's all about," Phares said. "That's what this offense, this school is all about. We don't care about the accolades, we don't care about the stats, we care about the results. We care about plays like the one that Cam Martin made and that was a big one."
Rohrig once again went out against a quality opponent and proved why he belongs in the conversation for the state's Kennedy Award (given annually to the top player) and Warner Award (given annually to the top running back) as he finished with 167 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. He also had a big interception on defense, one of four turnovers for the Indians.
Always one to credit his offensive line, Rohrig did so again and he of course recognized the importance of Martin's block on his 17th and most important touchdown run of the season.
"If Cam doesn't make that play, I might be losing 4 yards," Rohrig said. "He delivered that block and I saw a guy coming from behind me and knew I had to turn it on.
"That was the best football team we have played this year."
Even with the dramatic final touchdown for the Indians that may have proved to be the winning score, the game was far from over at that point.
Linsly sophomore quarterback Braden Wade was stellar the entire game but after Rohrig's TD made it a two-possesion game at 28-14, he promptly led the Cadets down the field with a series of clutch passes, two of them coming on fourth downs, to set up a Kevin Stanisi 2-yard touchdown run with 38 seconds to go.
BHS needed one more big play to secure the victory and it came when senior John Dotson recovered a Linsly on-side kick. The Indians were then able to run down the clock from the victory formation.
"It's great to see a senior step up and make a play like that," Phares said. "Our linemen deserve to hear this, some of our linemen have better hands than our backs and they talk about it all the time. That's a huge play, Dotson stepped up. He wasn't scared of that football, he caught it at 8 yards, he wasn't waiting on it. I was really happy to see him make that play."
The game came to a halt with 9:11 to play in the fourth quarter when senior linebacker Tanner Hathaway went down with an apparent head/neck injury. He was carted off the field on a stretcher and taken via an ambulance to the hospital.
It was Hathaway's first game back after missing two straight games with a neck injury.
Good news though, a lot of the measures taken by the BHS medical staff were of extreme precaution and Hathaway had a message for Phares before he left the field and by the time everybody left Wayne Jamison Field, word had gotten out that Hathaway had feeling in all of his extremities and was joking with the hospital staff.
"That's a hard situation for kids," Phares said. "You hate to see your brother laying on the ground like that. But we had to re-focus and go back and finish the football game. Our kids knew that's what Tanner would want.
"Before he left the field, Tanner told me to go tell our next wing back, Timmy (Jeffress), to go block his tail off."
The BHS defense forced four first-half turnovers, including fumbles on the first and last plays from scrimmage in the half.
Linsly turned the ball over on each of its first two possessions and the Indians capitalized on both.
The first came when Wade completed a screen pass to Atley Cowan, who tried to finish off a hook and lateral but Cale Culicerto was right there to bring him down and the ball bounced to the turf and the Indians' Josh Love recovered.
Four plays later, Rohrig was in the end zone with a 9-yard touchdown run. The PAT kick was blocked but the Indians had a quick 6-0 lead.
The Cadets picked up a first down on their second drive but that drive ended when Ryan Jones recovered a fumble that led to a Josh Love 2-yard TD run and following a Logan Anglin PAT it was 13-0 in favor of the Indians.
Wade hooked up with Malte Feil for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 1:04 left in the first quarter to get Linsley on the board and make it 13-7.
Hathaway helped extend Bridgeport's lead to 20-7 on the ensuing drive as he capped a 14-play drive with a 22-yard TD run.
Rohrig's third interception of the year from his safety spot ended another Linsly first-half drive and on the final snap of the first half, Aidan Sparks recovered another fumble for the BHS defense, ending a drive that had reached the BHS 15.
Stanisi had another short TD run (2 yards again) in the third quarter that brought the Cadets to within 20-14.
Wade completed 25-of-34 passes for 260 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Lucca Troullos led Linsley in receptions with 10 for 94 yards and Feil added seven for 88 and the one TD.
The Linsly ground game had a much rougher time. Despite the two rushing TDs from Stanisi, the Cadets finished with (-) 7 yards rushing.
Love and Hathaway complemented Rohrig's outing with 37 and 66 yards, respectively. Love's TD run was his 11th on the season, while it marked the ninth TD for Hathaway.
Rohrig surpassed Anthony Bonamico on the school's all-time rushing yardage list in the modern era and is now at No. 6 with 3,168 yards.
The Indians will finish up the regular season on the road next week at Lincoln.
Early projections for the next batch of WVSSAC playoff ratings have Bridgeport falling from No. 7 to 8, but the Indians did officially secure the school's running state record of consecutive playoff appearances to 31 years.
