Cardinals battle to 46-40 win over Leslie County
BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Martin County pulled out a 46-40 win over Leslie County at home Friday to advance to the second round in KHSAA Class 2A playoffs.
Martin County (7-4) battled downfield for a score with under three minutes left in the game. As the Cardinal faithful held their breath, the defense stopped a Leslie County (5-6) throw to the end zone with one second remaining to seal the victory.
“Let’s keep this thing going,” Cardinal junior running back Brock Messer said of the win.
Martin County rushed for 511 yards on the night, with three players rushing for over 100 yards apiece. Messer amassed 186, Madden Miller 159 and Dawson Mills 131.
Miller put the Cards on the board first. He took the pitch to the right and hustled downfield 81 yards to paydirt. Maddox Johnson kicked one through for a 7-0 score.
The Cardinals punched a squib kick into a Leslie County player and recovered on the following kickoff.
Facing fourth-and-11, Miller escaped the backfield and broke three tackles en route to a 39-yard touchdown.
Ten seconds later, Leslie County responded with a 56-yard touchdown pass.
On the ensuing kickoff, Damien Cheek pounded his way up to the Cardinal 47-yard line. Messer received the next handoff and rambled 33 yards to the 20-yard line.
Mills received the pigskin on the next possession and saw a hole up the middle. He juked left at the 5-yard line and scored his first touchdown since being injured Sept. 30.
Leslie County scored quickly on the next Eagle possession to close the gap to 20-13 halfway through the first quarter.
After a penalty and fumble recovery, Mills rushed to the 1-yard line. Quarterback Weston Jude capped off the offensive drive when he plowed through the goal line for a touchdown to stretch the Cardinal lead to 26-13.
The Eagles responded with another quick touchdown to make it 26-20 at the end of the first quarter.
A Cardinal fumble in the second was the beginning of a slump.
Leslie County scored a touchdown in the air and then recovered an onside kick to take a 34-26 lead.
Martin County ended the first half throwing an interception.
Mistakes continued in the second half for the Cards. Jude threw a bomb to Cheek at the 3-yard line, but it was stripped away by an Eagle defender.
Lady luck began to favor the Cards after their first defensive stop of the night on a fourth-and-12. Martin County took over on their own 23-yard line.
Bryston Wells, Tate Crum, Greyden Proctor, Noah Mollette and Corey Parsley parted the Red Sea for Messer, who hit the acceleration for 52 yards down to the opponent’s 20-yard line.
“There’s a reason our backs were getting all of those yards. The big guys up front played their butts off and they don’t get enough credit,” said Martin County Coach Josh Muncy of his guys in the trenches. “Our skills guys, our linemen played tough tonight. They deserve the praise for this game.”
Messer found another opening on second-and-5 between Mollette and Caleb Costa’s blocking on the line. He ran into the endzone to bring the Cards within two points.
The Eagles had been flying hot in the air all game. Cardinal sophomore Julian Stafford iced the attack when he intercepted a pass and sprinted down the right sideline. His pick 6 was brought back by penalties.
“We started playing on our heels and the momentum was swinging. We began to retreat and weren’t playing downhill and aggressive,” said Muncy. “The defense kicked it up a notch in the third quarter and made plays.”
Following a few carries, the Cardinals faced fourth-and-1 at the 4-yard line at the end of the third quarter. After taking a walk to the other end of the field, Jude snuck by for a first down. Messer crossed the goal line for his second touchdown to put the Cards in front 38-34.
Leslie County put six points on the board to go ahead 40-38.
With time winding down, Mills had two big runs for 15 yards to get down to the 24-yard line. The Cards then looked at a fourth-and-2 situation.
Messer went to work and converted for the first down.
Time continued to tick away, and the Cards needed another third-down conversion. Miller saw daylight and rushed to the 6-yard line.
The Cardinal Crazies were on their feet roaring full force when Muncy called a timeout to set up a play. The boys made their way back onto the field to the sound of deafening cheers as they pumped up the crowd.
With 2:44 showing on the clock, Messer hit the Eagles with the ole’ razzle-dazzle. He rushed past the goal line for a 44-40 Cardinal lead.
Martin County went for two when Mills faded into the corner of the endzone and Jude hit him in stride to go up six points.
The Cardinal defense stopped the next Leslie County drive. Martin County took over on downs.
After a four-and-out, the Eagles regained possession on a punt with 55 seconds remaining in the game.
Two completed passes later and a roughing the passer penalty, Leslie County made its way into Cardinal territory.
Kaleb Robinson rushed the quarterback with 17 seconds to play and forced him to throw out of bounds.
Leslie County completed yet another pass for a first down.
Christopher Phillips broke through the line on the next snap and pressured the Leslie County QB to run out at the sideline. The buzzer sounded but the officials placed time back on the clock.
One second showed on the scoreboard and Leslie County had time for one more play.
The Eagles snapped the ball and the quarterback rolled to his left after senior Greyden Proctor hounded him in the backfield.
“I fought tooth and nail to get back to pressure him,” Proctor said.
Messer added, “It was like time froze.”
The prayer went into the endzone with Cheek, Stafford and Miller providing tight coverage. The ball grazed the receiver’s hands before hitting the turf and sending the Cardinals into the second round of the playoffs.
“I’m feeling so proud of our guys. We got down and they played a big-time second half. They did what we asked them to do,” said Muncy after the win. “It was looking that the last team to have the ball would win, and they sure had a shot. But we made a few big plays.”
Messer rushed for 186 yards, scored three touchdowns and had three total tackles on defense.
Miller had eight total tackles and two touchdowns on 159 yards rushing.
“It was a tough game all the way until the end,” Miller said. “Our mentality is win or go home. We’re playing for our brothers next to us. Our leaders brought us back and we didn’t give up.”
QB Jude was 1-3, had a fumble recovery, and scored a touchdown on the ground for 5 yards.
Mills rushed for 131 yards, scored one touchdown and a 2-point conversion in his first game back after injury.
“It felt good to be back out,” Mills said. “It means a lot to host a playoff game in front of the community. I’m glad I got to be back on the field tonight.”
Coach Muncy looks for more progression and big strides out of Mills next week.
“He had to shake some rust off, but he got those first game jitters back out. He ran his tail off,” said Muncy.
Phillips ran for 30 yards and had three total tackles, including one solo.
Stafford had an interception that he returned for 32 yards. He also had five total tackles, including two solo.
Cheek, Proctor and Wells brought down three Eagles on defense. Costa had five tackles, Zachary Hamilton had four, and Brayden Estep had one solo tackle.
Maddox Johnson was 2-4 on special teams.
Assistant coach Wesley Hager was celebrating after the close game.
“They clawed back into it and it was a huge gutsy win for our seniors. We made adjustments and they worked,” said Hager.
Senior Chris Phillips is looking forward to Friday.
“We gotta come to play and bring it to em’,” Phillips said.
Coach Muncy described Breathitt County (8-2) as a “good” team.
“I think we can play with anybody in the state in 2A. It should be a fun game,” concluded Muncy.
Martin County travels to Breathitt County for the second playoff round Friday. Game time is 7:30 p.m.