Photo by Nick Henthorn Ohio’s Kabel Isaly, who played for the River Pilots, rushes to the outside Saturday during the 78th Annual Rudy Mumley OVAC All-Star Football Game at Wheeling Island Stadium. Isaly passed for 133 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 33 in an eventual 13-13 tie.

WHEELING — For the first time in its glorious 78-year history, the OVAC Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game ended in a tie, 13-13 at Wheeling Island Stadium. There is no overtime in the contest.

The all-time series now stands at 45-31-2 in favor of Ohio, with the other deadlock coming in 1992 when the game was declared a washout (0-0).

The West Virginia defense came up with a pair of huge stands deep inside their own territory, with one ending up in a long fumble return for a touchdown that put it ahead 13-7 in the third quarter.

“Yes we had a couple of mishaps on offense, but we also missed some tackles and other things,” Ohio head coach Anthony Hayes said. “All the emphasis is placed on those things, people are going to look at those because of that.

“The bottom line is everyone played hard. Both staffs prepared their teams well.”

Ohio took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards on seven plays as River’s Kabel Isaly found St. Clairsville’s Cole Thoburn streaking down the left sidelines from 34 yards out.

The Red Devils’ Jacob Meager booted the placement for a 7-0 lead with 9-minutes, 20-seconds on the clock.

The drive took 2:40.

“We moved the ball consistently, we just couldn’t finish off a couple of drives,” Hayes added. ”

Barnesville’s Luke Detling gave the ball right back to the Buckeyes with an interception, but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete as the Mountaineers had held.

West Virginia drove right down the field with its next possession as Brooke’s Gavin Moore capped a 4-play, 59-yard march with a 2-yard run over the right side of the line. John Marshall’s Conor Fitzpatrick tied the game with the placement at the 3:48 mark of the second quarter.

The Buckeyes were threatening again late in the second quarter with a third-and-goal from the Mountaineers’ 3.

However, a high snap was picked up on one bounce by Wheeling Park’s Keohn Stephens who appeared to be off to the races, only to be tripped up by Barnesville’s Taison Starr.

“I thought I was taking it to the crib. I thought I had a touchdown, but then I felt a hand around my ankle,” Stephens said of the play which resembled Ben Roethlisberger’s tackle against the Indianapolis Colts late in an AFC playoff game. “I remember that play.”

On Ohio’s first possession of the third quarter, it had a fourth-and-1 at the West Virginia 9, but the snap sailed over Isaly’s head as he and Parkersburg South’s Tristan Walker chased after it. Walker scooped up the loose ball and sprinted 62 yards to paydirt as West Virginia took a 13-7 lead after the PAT was blocked.

“Nobody was going to catch me. I was taking it to the house,” Walker said.

Fitzpatrick recovered his own onside kick to put West Virginia back in business. After picking up a first down, the drive stalled and a punt ensued.

Ohio finally evened the count in the fourth quarter, but a bad snap on the ensuing PAT left the game in a stalemate.

On fourth-and-15 from his own 24, Isaly scrambled away from pressure before lobbing a pass to Bellaire’s Mac Mac Pettigrew who was wide-open in the middle of the end zone. However, a bad snap from center prevented Ohio from taking the lead with a little more than five minutes remaining.

West Virginia had one last chance. Linsly’s Atley Cowan scrambled for 30 yards to the Ohio 10 before taking a huge shot from Starr. The ball flew up in the air and was recovered by St. Clairsville’s J.R. Adams.

The West Virginia defense held, giving the ball back to the offense with 46 ticks showing. Cowan ran for five yards and threw an incompletion before Starr picked off a pass.

“Our defense played very well. We forced some turnovers that really helped us,” West Virginia head coach Frank Sisinni said. “Offensively, we had some big plays that we just couldn’t connect on.”

Isaly ran for 33 yards while passing for 133 and the two scores. Steubenville’s Savier Faulks gained 69 yards on 15 carries as Ohio managed 171 on 35 totes. Petteway caught four passes for 45 stripes.

Cowan passed for 74 yards and ran for 45 more. Weir’s Corey Lyons picked up 63 stripes on six carries.

Ohio charted 15 first downs, four more than West Virginia. The Buckeyes were flagged six times for 65 yards. West Virginia had five flags for 30. Both teams lost two fumbles.