PARKERSBURG –Brandon Penn was a dual-threat once again, as undefeated Parkersburg South celebrated in style with a 56-14 homecoming win over Huntington on Friday at the Erickson All-Sports Facility. The senior signal caller scored all six of his touchdowns in the first half, as the Patriots cruised early. They ran a hurry-up offense on the first drive and capped it off in a bit over two and a half minutes with an 8-yard run from Penn. He continued to roll in the opening quarter, finding Dylan Day 69 yards through the air and Landon Francisco from 62 yards away. Those tallies gave PSHS a 21-0 cushion they would not take for granted, and those touchdown passes came in quick succession. Another touchdown pass to Francisco followed by Penn’s second rushing score put the Monarchs in a steep 28-0 hole before they could even respond. Later Monarch touchdown runs from Dalton Flowers and Reid Wiley couldn’t dig them out of a hole. Penn’s dominance continued well after that. After a 57-yard scramble and score on a broken play that started with a snap through his legs, Penn kept pouring on the stats. Rushing scores from Devin Gaines (who finished with 127 yards on 10 carries) and Corey Beverage in the third quarter ended the South scoring barrage, but Penn was still eager to make more plays in a fourth quarter that saw him taking a breather on the sideline. “I would like to play in the fourth quarter, but coach is smart for taking me out to make sure I’m healthy for the rest of the season,” he said. On that 57-yard run, Penn chases down the errant snap and ran down the sideline while evading defenders. He cut back up field and shrugged off the last couple obstacles on his way to the end zone. He spoke about what it took to make gold out of a play that started so broken. “Honestly, the only thing I used was my difference in speed,” Penn said. “I mean, I made them think that I was this fast, and then I changed a gear on them.” Penn wasn’t the only Patriot who proved to be versatile. Francisco’s two receiving scores solidified his reputation as a deep-ball threat, but he also got in on the action defensively. An interception off quarterback Justin Frohnappfel and a fumble recovery killed Monarch drives and gave the Patriots’ offense the opportunity to go out and take advantage of the JM defense for 600 total yards of offense. The effort bodes well for coach Nathan Tanner, who’s offense is averaging an even 50 points per game. That set a new high mark through five games in school history, and it gives the team a lot to live up to in the upcoming week. “We’re going to Huntington. It’s going to be a different environment,” he told his team in a huddle after the game. “Everything we’ve been working for has been leading up to a week like this.” Following the Parkersburg South win, Huntington was still locked in a tough battle with South Charleston on the road at Bob Sang Stadium. The Highlanders pulled out a tight 52-50 regulation victory over the Black Eagles, as that proves Huntington’s ability to be able to score in bunches. For next week’s 7 p.m. contest, the Patriots will have to cut down on the amount of rushing yards they’ve given up. The Monarchs ran for 239 behind Flowers’s 118 on 11 carries. The playoffs loom large for South, but the Patriots want to take this one week at a time. Just outside the locker room, coach Tanner offered a grounded response to whispers of playoff expectations, as the 5-0 Patriots could be on a collision course towards the top of Class AAA. “I’ll be honest with you, we don’t even mention playoffs,” he said. “Once the game is over, we tell our kids that it’s a great win, but right now, we’re 0-0.” John Marshall drops to 1-4 with the loss, as they have a losing record through five games for the first time since 2016. Next week, they go to Buckhannon-Upshur in an attempt to get the 2019 season back on track.