By Branden Wilt
bwilt@newstribune.info
tribune sports editor

Quarterback James Jones put up big numbers again and the Frankfort Falcons did their part, beating Hampshire 34-0 in Romney to close out the regular season at 6-4 last night.
At press time Frankfort was still waiting on scores from across the state to come in, needing help from at least three other teams around the state to come up victorious to advance to the postseason.
Jones led a Falcon offense that put up nearly 500 yard of offense with 252 yards on 12-of-25 passing and a pair of touchdowns, and also added a long touchdown trot in the first half.
Fullback Daniel McKormick was head coach Kevin Whiteman’s workhorse, as he led a Falcon ground game with 75 yards on 16 carries.
Hampshire got off on the right foot when return man Michael Clarke almost took the opening kickoff for a score, but Frankfort’s Roger Ryan was able to make a shoestring tackle saving the score at the nine-yard line after a 55-yard return.
Hampshire was unable to punch it in however, as a penalty killed the drive forcing a Trojan punt at the 10-minute mark.
Frankfort returned the favor, as a hold killed a promising effort by the Falcons and the Trojans took over on downs.
Hampshire began hammering away again, but the Falcon defense stiffened and Ryan and Andrew Staggs combined for a big sack of Hampshire quarterback Phillip McKormick forcing a punt as time ticked away in the opening quarter.
Frankfort took over with just over two minutes remaining in the period at its’ own eight yard line. Jones got the game’s first scoring drive started with a seven-yard keeper, and following an illegal procedure call on the visitors, McKormick picked up 15 more markers to move the chains to Trojan 23.
Shawn Gillespe picked up six more stripes before the first quarter expired, and McKormick continued to hammer away picking up 13, 7, and a yard on a trio of carries.
Whiteman decided to gamble and go for it on fourth-and-two, and following a Falcon timeout, Jeremy Miltenberger raced 32 yards untouched for the score thanks to a big block by Logan Wolford on the outside.
The run capped a 14-play, 92-yard, 5:19 drive and left the Falcons on top 7-0 after the first of Wolford’s six extra points.
The teams traded punts on three consecutive possessions, but Frankfort would get on the board again in the second period.
The Falcons went into a double-slot shotgun formation to speed things up a bit, and Jones heated up quickly.
Jones found Joey Luciw for 13 yards on down one, and following an incompletion, hit Miltenberger for 10 more at the Hampshire 35 yard line.
Another strike to Wolford had Hampshire on its’ heels and looking for another pass, but Jones decided to keep it on the ground and streaked 57 yards right down the middle of the field to make it 14-0. The run capped an 88-yard drive in which Jones had a hand in every single yard.
Frankfort made it 20-0 on its first possession out of the locker room, and needed just nine plays to go 66 yards.
Whiteman decided to stay in the shotgun, and after two misfires, Jones found Luciw on a go-route and Luciw made an acrobatic catch worth 42 markers to put Frankfort on the Trojan 30.
Jones hit Miltenberger with a pop-pass a play later for a first down, but a fumble and a dropped pass put Frankfort in a third-and-18 situation.  But the junior quarterback hooked up with Luciw again – this time for 22 yards – to keep the drive alive.
McKormick moved the football four yards on first-and-goal from the seven, and came up big again a play later recovering a Gillespe fumble in the end zone to make it 20-0 Frankfort as Wolford could not convert a two-point try.
Hampshire was unable to take advantage of a pair of Jones interceptions and a badly dropped pass on consecutive possessions, and Frankfort padded its lead as Jones found Christian Brown from 35-yards out and Miltenberger on an 84-yard strike to finish the scoring.
“We worked hard in practice and had a good week after talking to the kids about the Keyser game,” said Whiteman, “ now all we can do is wait.”
At press time it looked as if Frankfort’s fate would lie in the hand of a local – Tucker County.
The Falcons needed three of four teams ranked ahead of them to fall, and at press time two of the three – Oak Glen and Weir – had won.
Tucker trailed Phillip Barbour 38-34 in the fourth.
In other games, number two Grafton was beaten by Magnolia 29-24, and number four Chapmanville was beaten by Point Pleasant 17-7.
Number five Ravenswood was defeated by 3-6 Ripley by a score of 10-6, and number seven Bluefield lost 29-21 to South Charleston.
South Charleston however, was the topped ranked team in AAA showing why Bluefield is the team no one wants to play in the first round.