Ritchie County's Gus Morrison (2) dives into the end zone during Saturday’s Class A football state championship in Wheeling. Ritchie won, 42-21. (Photo by Neal Smith)

WHEELING — The Ritchie County football team can testify, state championships are forever.

Saturday night in the Class A state championship game on Wheeling Island, Ritchie County High School became the first school based in the county to ever win a state title.

Behind five touchdowns from Gus Morrison, the fourth-seeded Rebels defeated No. 6 Williamstown, 42-21.

“My dad graduated in 1963 and Harrisville High School won a state baseball tournament – that is still talked about today, and I don’t think our kids realize that for the rest of their lives they are going to talk about this night,” Ritchie County coach Rick Haught said. “It was such a dominating win and I don’t think they realize yet what a state championship does for a community.”

Ritchie County closes out the season 13-1. Williamstown, seeking its first state title since 2014, caps an impressive 11-3 campaign.

“We faced an explosive team,” Williamstown coach Chris Beck said. “It’s a team you can’t make mistakes, you can’t fumble, you can’t give up onside kicks. You need to have stops. They controlled the line of scrimmage. Hats off to Ritchie County.”

Beck’s worst fears about Ritchie County’s offense came to fruition as the Rebels scored on all but one of their seven offensive possessions. Only a first-quarter fumble prevented Ritchie County from perfection.

“The fact the offense has been dominant this year … we worked so hard on throwing the ball, I was really proud of our kids’ running game,” Haught said.

Morrison saved his best performance as his last, rushing for 178 yards on 17 carries. His only score in the first half – a 3-yard TD reception – put Ritchie County in front to stay at 21-14 with 38 seconds remaining before halftime.

His second touchdown occurred in the game’s first series of the second half shortly after teammate Austin Bartlett recovered an onside kick.

“Gus picked the best game that I would argue plays his best game of the year,” Haught said. “Good players have to step up in big situations and he most certainly did that tonight.”

Williamstown executed Yellowjacket brand of football on their first opportunity of the third quarter, driving 73 yards on 14 running plays and taking seven minutes off the clock. After quarterback Maxwell Molessa, who led Williamstown with 120 yards on 23 carries, scored from a yard out the deficit was 28-21 with just less than three minutes remaining in the period.

A turnover on downs followed by an interception from Ritchie County’s Ethan Haught kept Williamstown off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Ritchie County finished with 358 yards of total offense. Seth Hardy added 52 yards on the ground for the Rebels, while Haught at quarterback completed 8-of-12 passes for 90 yards and two TDs.

For Williamstown, Rickie Allen gained 90 yards on 16 carries with one touchdown.