FAIRLEA — A long bus ride. A desperate Greenbrier East squad. Homecoming for the home team. None of it slowed down No. 7 Parkersburg South Friday night at Spartan Stadium. In fact, the only thing that stood in the way of the Patriot offense was a running clock in the final quarter. PSHS (6-2) rushed for 246 yards and threw for 268 more on its way to a fifth straight win in a 48-14 pounding of No. 14 Greenbrier East. Quarterback Braydon Mooney ran for 102 yards, threw for 268 and played a part in four Patriot touchdowns, as the visiting offense punted only twice and produced five touchdown drives that took five plays or less. Nick Yoho also played a huge role, rushing for 126 yards and three touchdowns and catching two passes for 78 yards and another score. “It wasn’t the best football I’ve seen us play all year, but they have some good athletes (at Greenbrier East),” said PSHS head coach Mike Eddy. “I thought we did a good job of playing hard from start to finish, and that’s what we always ask of them.” Greenbrier East (4-4) knew it was facing a stiff challenge against a Patriot offense filled with playmakers, and its strategy to keep pace was to play keep-away. The plan seemed to be working perfectly on the opening drive of the game, as the Spartans took the kickoff and drove 48 yards in 11 plays to move the ball deep into Patriot territory at the 27-yard line, eating up more than 6 minutes off the clock in the process. But instead of ending in points, the drive ended in disaster for the home team. On a third-and-15 from the PSHS 35-yard line, following a sack and a penalty, GEHS quarterback Kyle King dropped back to pass, and as he was trying to escape pursuing defenders, he left the ball on the turf. PSHS recovered in East territory, and two plays later Mooney found room outside the tackles on a zone read and raced 17 yards for the game’s opening score. “As long as they’re not on the field, they can’t score,” said GEHS head coach Ray Lee. “That was our game plan. If we could keep grinding it out, sustain drives and kill the clock, we could minimize their time on the field and have a chance, but those mistakes hurt us.” The 26-second drive was a sign of things to come. The visitors scored on the first play of the second quarter on another Mooney run, this one untouched up the middle for 19 yards, and later in the quarter Mooney found Devin Gaines on a catch and run through, over and around Spartans defenders as he raced 72 yards for the touchdown and a 20-0 halftime lead. “We only ran 20 plays in the first half,” said Eddy. “Six of those came on our last possession when nothing panned out. We didn’t have the ball much, but as much as our defense was on the field, I thought they played well in the first half.” The Patriots opened the second half with another quick drive, covering 75 yards in just four plays, capped by a Yoho 4-yard jaunt across the goal line. East finally answered with a 56-yard drive set up by a big kickoff return by Colby Piner, who also finished it off with a 21-yard touchdown run on a sweep. Taking away any thoughts of a comeback, though, PSHS responded with another scoring drive as Yoho found the paydirt again from nine yards away. The shell-shocked Spartan defense couldn’t recover, and Piner’s second touchdown of the day on a 72-yard catch and run from King didn’t mean much to the overall result. “I give all the credit to (Parkersburg South),” said Lee. “We have a great football team that’s coming along. We have some young guys, and we’re going to keep working with them.” East did manage 151 yards on the ground and found a few big plays from Piner, the talented sophomore, but aside from the long touchdown pass, Parkersburg South limited the big play and forced the Spartans to try to drive the field without making mistakes. “We played pretty good defense,” said Eddy. “We forced them to run multiple plays and try to drive the field. We waited for opportunities to take advantage of mistakes, and we were able to do that.” Still clinging to playoff hopes in Class AAA, East will be at Princeton next Friday. “We’re going to keep playing and keep coaching these guys up,” said Lee. “If we can take care of our business, we’ll see what happens. We have to go out these next two weeks and play mistake-free football and tough football. These teams are not pushovers, and we’re not looking at them that way.” Parkersburg South, looking to lock down a home game in the opening round, will host Wheeling Park.