SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Last year, South Charleston lost all the close ones. Friday night, the Black Eagles found a way to win one and stay undefeated.

SC's offense sputtered but the defense stood its ground to hold on for a 13-12 victory over George Washington. A crowd of about 2,500 attended the clash of Class AAA Mountain State Athletic Conference powers at Oakes Field in South Charleston.

The Black Eagles (2-0) began last season dropping their first four games, including a one-point loss to GW, the state's No. 1 team at the end of the season; a one-point setback St. Albans, which lost to Parkersburg in the state championship game; and a four-point loss to Parkersburg.

"These kids have come to play this year,'' said third-year SC coach John Messinger. "If we keep this up we can run with anybody in the conference. We've got eight more tough ones in front of us.

"[GW] is a good football team. I still say it's one of the top two or three in the state. Where does that put us? I don't know, but we beat one of the best football teams in the state. It's gotta be the best win that I've ever had here, playoffs, anything. This is wonderful.''

The Patriots (1-1) had several opportunities but the Black Eagles' defense forced four turnovers and came up with four sacks for 30 yards in losses.

SC senior Caleb Hudson recovered a fumble on GW's first possession of the third quarter and the Black Eagles turned aside three fourth-down conversion attempts in the final period to secure the victory.

The Black Eagles' defense forced an incomplete pass on fourth-and-12 from the SC 26 early in the fourth, then SC sophomore Moe Makhene intercepted a pass after GW drove to the Black Eagles' 27 with less than 10 minutes to play.

On GW's final possession, the Patriots picked up a first down on a fake punt when sophomore Nick Britton took the snap and tossed a 17-yard pass to sophomore Kristian Clay with less than five minutes to go.

The Black Eagles, however, snuffed out any momentum by forcing three straight incompletions. SC took over on downs when junior Wayne Wurster batted down a fourth-down pass attempt at the line. The Black Eagles ran out the final 3:21 with seven straight running plays.

"We made a lot of mistakes,'' said GW coach Steve Edwards Jr. "That's two games in a row that we had two touchdowns called back. We've got to limit that somehow. I don't know how you do that. The only holding call in the whole game happened on our touchdown. On the center, wow, that's amazing.

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Last year, South Charleston lost all the close ones. Friday night, the Black Eagles found a way to win one and stay undefeated.

SC's offense sputtered but the defense stood its ground to hold on for a 13-12 victory over George Washington. A crowd of about 2,500 attended the clash of Class AAA Mountain State Athletic Conference powers at Oakes Field in South Charleston.

The Black Eagles (2-0) began last season dropping their first four games, including a one-point loss to GW, the state's No. 1 team at the end of the season; a one-point setback St. Albans, which lost to Parkersburg in the state championship game; and a four-point loss to Parkersburg.

"These kids have come to play this year,'' said third-year SC coach John Messinger. "If we keep this up we can run with anybody in the conference. We've got eight more tough ones in front of us.

"[GW] is a good football team. I still say it's one of the top two or three in the state. Where does that put us? I don't know, but we beat one of the best football teams in the state. It's gotta be the best win that I've ever had here, playoffs, anything. This is wonderful.''

The Patriots (1-1) had several opportunities but the Black Eagles' defense forced four turnovers and came up with four sacks for 30 yards in losses.

SC senior Caleb Hudson recovered a fumble on GW's first possession of the third quarter and the Black Eagles turned aside three fourth-down conversion attempts in the final period to secure the victory.

The Black Eagles' defense forced an incomplete pass on fourth-and-12 from the SC 26 early in the fourth, then SC sophomore Moe Makhene intercepted a pass after GW drove to the Black Eagles' 27 with less than 10 minutes to play.

On GW's final possession, the Patriots picked up a first down on a fake punt when sophomore Nick Britton took the snap and tossed a 17-yard pass to sophomore Kristian Clay with less than five minutes to go.

The Black Eagles, however, snuffed out any momentum by forcing three straight incompletions. SC took over on downs when junior Wayne Wurster batted down a fourth-down pass attempt at the line. The Black Eagles ran out the final 3:21 with seven straight running plays.

"We made a lot of mistakes,'' said GW coach Steve Edwards Jr. "That's two games in a row that we had two touchdowns called back. We've got to limit that somehow. I don't know how you do that. The only holding call in the whole game happened on our touchdown. On the center, wow, that's amazing.

"We just didn't make enough big plays. Our kids played hard. It was a tough ballgame. John had his guys ready to play. They caused a lot of our mistakes. We're still young. We're going to see how we mature and see how we handle some real adversity.''

It wasn't always pretty Friday for the Black Eagles, but they were able to get the job done. After hanging a 28-8 win on Riverside last week, SC, which committed three turnovers, struggled to find the end zone though it drove inside GW's 30 on six occasions.

"I don't know if that's a mark of great football to overcome those turnovers or if we're a poor football team for making those turnovers,'' Messinger said. "We'll take this. These kids deserve it. They finally bought in to what football is. I hope we're around and can make a mark.''

SC senior Aaron Slusher turned in 82 yards on 18 carries, including a 9-yard score, and senior tailback Amari Smith turned in 75 yards on six totes. Senior quarterback Marcel Brown went 5-of-12 for 61 yards with an interception.

GW grabbed a 6-0 lead, taking the first possession of the game 74 yards on an efficient 14-play drive, ending with senior quarterback Taylor Norman's 5-yard TD pass to sophomore Shaquille Williams. The Black Eagles blocked the extra-point kick.

SC's defense set up its first score when Wurster recovered a fumble at the GW 13. Two plays later, Brown sneaked in from the 1 for a 7-6 lead with three minutes left in the first half.

GW senior Quinton Johnson returned the kickoff 51 yards, setting the Patriots up at the SC 31. Patriots senior Michael Tucker hauled in a 13-yard scoring pass from Norman on the third play, but the 2-point pass failed and GW led 12-7 with 1:51 remaining before halftime.

SC answered with 39.3 seconds to go in the second quarter on Slusher's 9-yard scoring run, but GW blocked the extra-point kick and the Black Eagles led 13-12.

Norman finished 11-of-28 with 211 yards and two TDs with one interception. Tucker hauled in four passes for 159 yards and senior tailback Greg Jones had 48 yards on 11 carries.

Reach Tommy R. Atkinsonat 348-4811 or tatkin...@wvgazette.com.