BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The Hornets came to Inez on Friday looking for a win. All they found was the Martin County football team had turned into pest control as the Cardinals swatted them back to Magoffin County with a 28-22 final score.
Head coach Josh Muncy told his team after the win, “You guys make big plays when it matters. But the first half matters, too. We have to clean some stuff up.”
The Cards had dug themselves into a hole for the second week in a row, down 14-6 at the half.
“You guys have to clean up in here,” Coach Muncy pointed to his chest, sending a signal to his team. “Our minds, our mentality, our hearts.”
Magoffin jumped on the board 7-0 in the first quarter. The Cards responded with their workhorse quarterback.
Devan Maynard faked a pass from the 16-yard line and was dancing behind the O-line. He broke to his left and dove over two defenders into the end zone.
Whatever Coach Muncy is saying to his Cardinals at the break in the locker room is working.
Crayson “Bones” Lafferty beasted his way for a 28-yard run shortly into the third quarter.
This set Maynard up to run in for Martin County’s second touchdown of the night from the 22-yard line. He converted the two-point conversion to knot the game at 14.
On the ensuing kickoff, senior Weston Jude recovered to give the Cardinals another possession from centerfield.
Stud athlete Parker Watts put the Hornets in a spin cycle and broke loose for a gain of 14 yards.
Maynard said to give him another one and went for the keeper from the 28 to hit paydirt.
He sent Watts to the right corner to go for two. The Cardinal flew above two defenders to give Martin County the 22-14 lead with just under seven minutes in the third quarter.
Heading into the fourth quarter, Magoffin ran some time off the clock with their next drive. After multiple penalties, they tied the game with six minutes remaining in the contest.
Young gun Parker Maynard returned the kickoff and endured a face mask penalty to put the Cardinals on the Magoffin 41-yard line.
Julian Stafford turned on the jets after catching a pass and ran for 20 yards to set Martin County up 8 yards out from the end zone.
D. Maynard had one more left in the tank and busted through the line for a 28-22 lead with over four minutes to go.
With Magoffin making their way down the field, the game was at the mercy of the Cardinal defense.
Aiden Horn pushed the Hornet offense back on a huge tackle for a loss.
With time ticking away, Zachary Hamilton pushed past the line for another loss.
Facing third-and-13 in Cardinal territory, Magoffin made a pass to the end zone.
It was only fitting that after scoring four touchdowns, D. Maynard was waiting for the interception to give the Cardinals the win.
Martin County improves to 4-1 on the season.
“I saw Devan and I just knew. You got to have faith in your teammates,” Watts said after watching his quarterback make the game-winning interception.
On how they pulled out the win after being down, Watts said, “Heart. We wanted it more than they did.”
The multi-sport athlete finished the game with a two-point conversion and 24 yards on the receiving end.
D. Maynard rushed for 177 yards on 20 attempts. He ran for four touchdowns and a two-point conversion. He threw for 44 yards on three completions.
The signal-caller is ranked sixth in Class 2A in rushing with an average of 140 yards per game.
Stafford is ranked 25th in yards receiving for 2A in Kentucky.
“We made some good plays on defense and forced some turnovers. The coaches put a fire under us at halftime and we came out and played,” the senior said after the win. Stafford had nine total tackles for the Cards.
Aiden Horn had 33 yards rushing and two solo tackles.
Lafferty led the team with 16 total tackles and eight solo. He had 33 yards rushing.
Zachary Hamilton brought down 10 Hornets for himself. Three were for a loss.
Martin County will travel to Perry Central (3-2) this Friday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.