BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PIKEVILLE — A little drizzle did not stop the Cardinals from bringing home a win Friday night. Martin County traveled to Shelby Valley for the second round of the Class 2A KHSAA state playoffs. The red and white took down the Wildcats 32-22 after a late push from Valley.
The Cardinals had 331 yards total for the game; 301 yards were on the ground.
Martin County pounded the ball down the middle of the line for three consecutive first downs for a 70-yard opening drive.
Facing second-and-18, Devan Maynard found a wide-open Jerrod Haney for a 30-yard touchdown pass to strike first blood.
The Cardinal defense held Valley for a three and out on their first possession.
Martin County went ahead 14-6 after Julian Stafford received a key block from Damian Cheek and ran for a 67-yard touchdown.
Two minutes before halftime, Maynard dove into the endzone for the QB sneak. Senior kicker Caleb Horn knocked the point-after through for a 21-6 lead.
With the game looking like Martin County would pull away, the Wildcats put a touchdown on the board before the break. They pushed in a two-point conversion to pull within seven.
Both teams battled it out in the third before Horn kicked a 31-yard field goal to extend the lead to 24-14.
Under six minutes remaining in the contest, the Red Sea parted for Stafford and he hit paydirt from over 20 yards out.
After a miscue on the point-after attempt, Cheek picked it up and rolled into the endzone for two points.
Valley scored once more, but it would not be enough. The Cards are rolling into the regional finals.
Stafford finished the contest with 161 yards in the dirt and two touchdowns.
Parker Watts rushed for 78 yards. Cheek picked up 26 yards on six carries.
Maynard had 30 yards in the air and 17 on the ground with one touchdown. He picked off one interception for 22 yards.
Weston Jude ran for 9 yards. Jack Cline and Jonothan Cline rushed for five each.
Haney had one touchdown reception for 30 yards.
Horn was 3-for-3 on point-after attempts and 1-for-2 on field goals.
A slew of Cardinal players were named to the Class 2A District 7 All-District team for the 2024 season.
First team: Devan Maynard, Julian Stafford, Parker Watts, Damian Cheek, Crayson Lafferty, Corey Parsley, Brayden Estep, Weston Jude and Aiden Horn.
Honorable Mention: Kendal Mullins, Mason McCoy, Zach Hamilton, Kaleb Robinson and Caleb Horn.
Martin County (9-3) will travel to Beechwood (11-1) for the third round of the 2A playoffs on Nov. 22.
Kickoff is 7:30 p.m.
Defensive stats were not available at the press deadline.