Philip Barbour's magical march through the Class AA state playoffs comes to an end with a loss to Fairmont Senior, 42-0

However the combination of the cold, mid-November rain and a stout Fairmont Senior defense held the Colt to just 143 yards of total offense on the night.

Much like they have all season, senior backfield tandem of quarterback Kaden Humphries and running back Nathaniel Hulver spearheaded the Colt offense in their final games in a Philip Barbour uniform.

Humphreys went 3-of-9 for 51 yards and an interception through the air and adding 43 yards on 16 carries on the ground while Hulver rushed 11 times for 40 yards.

With the win, Fairmont Senior’s journey for its ninth state title and first since winning back-to-back championships since 2020 and 2021 continues, improving to 9-1 overall and setting up a matchup with No. 14-seeded Independence, who went on the road and defeated Winfield, 13-0, in the other quarterfinal matchup on Friday.

For the most part, the Colts took care of the football only committing one turnover.

Unfortunately, that lone turnover came at an inopportune time as Fairmont Senior’s Cannon Dinger stepped in front of Humphrey’s first pass attempt of the night, cutting the Colts’ promising opening drive short and giving the Polar Bears the ball at midfield.

Four plays later Fairmont Senior made Philip Barbour pay for the turnover as quarterback Brody Whitehair connected with running back Dylan Ours on a slip screen to the right.

Ours cut back into space in the middle of the field, weaving his way through Colt defenders for a 31-yard touchdown reception.

Fairmont Senior placekicker Cameron Peschl drilled his first of what would prove to be six extra points on the game to give the Polar Bears an early 7-0 lead with 7:41 left in the first quarter.

After the Colts second drive culminated in a punt, the Polar Bears reeled off a quick five-play, 52-yard scoring drive, capped off by Ours second touchdown of the game from 23-yards out.

Peschl’s extra point pushed the Polar Bears lead to 14-0 with 3:13 left in the first quarter.

The Colts finally gained some traction on their third drive, reaching midfield before stalling out, brining up a critical early 4th-and-4.

Opting to go for it, the Colts turned to Hulver who was able to cross into Fairmont Senior territory before being swarmed by a host Polar Bears short of the line to gain, forcing a turnover on downs.

Fairmont Senior would tack on another score nine plays later as running back Domani Jones broke free down the right sideline from four yards out.

Peschl’s extra point stretched Fairmont Senior’s to 21-0 with 9:21 left in the second quarter.

With Philip Barbour unable to get anything going offensively, Fairmont Senior managed to score two more touchdowns on a pair of strikes from Whitehair.

Whitehair connected with Ours for a second time, delivering a dart to his tailback up the left-hash seam from 16-yards out. Peschl nailed the extra point of the half to extend Fairmont Senior’s lead to 28-0.

On the Polar Bears next drive, Whitehair found Cannon Dinger on an in-route from 10-yards out allowing Peschl to nail the extra point, putting Fairmont Senior up 35-0 with 3.4 seconds left in the second quarter.

“I thought that we came out a little wide-eyed and got down early,” Philip Barbour coach Mayle said.

In spite of the 35-0 deficit, the resilient Colts showed no quit in the second half, allowing Fairmont Senior to score just one more touchdown as Romano Johnson punched it in from five yards out before Peschl hit the ensuing extra point to give the Polar Bears a 42-0 lead with 1:48 left in the third.

Philip Barbour’s best offensive drive of the game was their last, methodically marching the ballfrom their own 19-yard line deep into the redzone on two explosive pass plays as Cameron Bennett tipped the ball to himself on a deep pass from Humphreys to convert a 3rd-and-20 to keep the drive alive before the senior signal caller connected with Hulver on a screen pass for a 23-yard gain.

Yet the Colts couldn’t quite finish, turning the ball over on downs after failing to convert a 4th-and-13 from the Polar Bears’ 27-yard line, allowing Fairmont Senior to run out the final few minutes of the game, sealing the win.

“At halftime, I leveled with, letting them know I was okay with a loss but I wasn’t okay with quitting on the season,” coach Mayle said. “And we didn’t quit, I thought that we went out and battled in the second half.”

While the loss brings Philip Barbour’s season to a close at 9-3 overall, coach Mayle is proud of all the team has accomplished this season.

“All year long it has been a seemingly nonstop string of firsts for our program with this team,” coach Mayle began. “It was the first time that we beat Grafton back-to-back, it was the first time that we had beaten Buckhannon-Upshur in several years, finished undefeated at home, broke the record for most wins in a season.”

“When I took over three years ago, I came up with a 10-year plan to get us where I wanted us to be,” coach Mayle continued. “Truth be told, none of this was in my vision this early,” “But this group of players didn’t care about expectations, they wanted it and worked to make it happen.”

“This team was a group of people who truly loved each other,” coach Mayle added. “Love wins in the end, it doesn’t matter if we lost a football game because this journey was so much bigger than all that.”

“I can’t thank our seniors enough for laying the groundwork for what is to come and for helping me flip the culture. I know they will all go on to do special things,” coach Mayle finished.