BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PRESTONSBURG — All through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a Blackcat, as Christmas came early this year for Martin County. The Cardinals took down Prestonsburg 27-20 Friday night at Josh Francis Field and earned a home playoff game.
The Cardinals found some motivation waiting in their locker room when they arrived – a wreath displaying the words “RIP Cardinals.”
Martin County improved to 6-3 on the season, 5-1 in Class 2A, and 4-1 in the district. Prestonsburg fell to 8-2.
The Blackcats had found their way into Cardinal territory at the 25-yard line with 6:21 remaining in the first quarter on this cold night. Julian Stafford dropped back and was waiting to pounce. He intercepted a Pburg pass and blasted down the sideline for a 79-yard pick 6.
Brock Messer received the handoff and broke two tackles before rushing in for a 22-yard touchdown. He pushed through for a 2-point conversion and a 14-0 Cardinal lead.
Facing a third-and-9, Prestonsburg was picked off by Christopher Phillips. His pick 6 was brought back by an inadvertent early whistle but picked up 41 yards on the return.
Madden Miller scored a rushing touchdown for the Cards. The hard-nosed Miller played the rest of the game after taking a cleat through his helmet that broke his nose.
The Cards returned to the locker room with a 20-6 lead.
With 8:55 remaining in the third quarter, Prestonsburg had a big run down the right sideline. The Cardinal defense did not give up on the play and brought the Blackcat runner out at the 3-yard line
The Cards came up big again when Greyden Proctor stripped the ball from the runner’s hands and jumped on it to recover the fumble.
Prestonsburg’s next two possessions allowed the Blackcats two touchdowns. A missed point-after attempt was no good to tie the score 20-20 with 9:08 left in the game.
Messer went down with cramps on the next Cardinal drive. He gritted his teeth and somehow managed three first-down runs. Jay Rufus carried four players and could only be brought down by his face mask.
On fourth-and-6, Miller received the pigskin at the 25-yard line. He zoomed down the left sideline and was put on the spin cycle at the 11-yard line. Miller broke away from three Blackcats for the go-ahead touchdown. Maddox Johnson’s kick cleared the crossbars for a 27-20 lead.
Prestonsburg returned the kickoff to the half-century mark. The crowd was rocking when the Blackcats converted two first downs. Two more Cardinal players went down with cramps from the freezing temperatures.
Madden and Jackson Miller busted through the line for a 1-yard loss. After a third-and-11, Prestonsburg had a gain of 8. This brought up fourth-and-3 with less than three minutes remaining.
The state’s leading rusher Ethan Jarvis went straight into the heart of the Cardinal defense. Miller squeezed past blockers and got a hold of the runner as he flew into the air. Caleb Costa, Julian Stafford, Damian Cheek and Noah Mollett built a brick wall and stopped him mid-jump. The defense held and the Cards took over on downs.
“I’ve never felt so happy in my life,” Miller said as he winced from pain after the game. “We all got in there to make that stop. It was exhilarating.”
Miller “had to suck it up” after being injured in the first half.
“I did it for my brothers next to me,” he said.
After a Martin County false start, Messer ran for 4 yards and Rufus bullied his way for 6.
With third-and-5, Messer ran to the outside. He squirmed out of a tackle and came within inches of going out of bounds. Messer managed to stay in and rushed for a first down to shatter the hopes of the Prestonsburg faithful.
“At the end of the day, we did what we knew we could do,” Costa said after his spectacular defensive performance. He had 18 total tackles for the game.
Bryston Wells had 11 tackles, six solo on the night.
“We knew we had to come out hitting hard. We got fired up and they couldn’t stop us,” said Wells.
Martin County head coach Josh Muncy knew it would be a war.
“I told the guys it would take all four quarters, and they gave it their all until the last second,” Muncy said. “This was, across the board, a team win. Heck of a night on the defensive line. The guys that nobody was looking at is what won us this game.”
Despite allowing 271 yards on the ground, the defense made the big plays when it mattered the most.
Messer led with 113 yards on the ground, one touchdown and nine tackles. Madden Miller finished with two touchdowns on 33 yards and 18 total tackles. Rufus had 26 yards rushing and seven tackles, and Weston Jude had 3 yards.
Phillips ran for 9 yards, forced a fumble and had an interception. Stafford had a pick 6 and seven tackles. Proctor had a fumble recovery and assisted on six tackles. Cheek had nine total tackles and two solo.
The Cards host East Carter (5-4) for their last game of the regular season Friday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
