BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
HAZARD — Martin County (4-2) traveled to Perry County (4-2) despite Hurricane Helene making landfall and pouring rain all down the eastern coast Friday. The Cardinals were held to their lowest total in yards for the season at 170 and fell to the Commodores 31-14.
Devan Maynard lifted Cardinal Nation’s spirits at the beginning of the game when he returned a kickoff for 77 yards to put Martin County on the board.
The signal-caller scored again for the Cards later in the contest when he broke right and hit paydirt from 21 yards out on third-and-8.
It wasn’t in the cards for the red and white with turnovers and struggles on offense.
Despite that, the defense put up solid numbers with 67 total tackles on the evening.
Crayson “Bones” Lafferty had 13 total and six solo tackles. He caught a pass for the evening and rushed for 19 yards.
Julian Stafford brought down nine Commodores by himself. Maynard tackled five solo.
Senior Damian Cheek wrestled down eight total and four all by his lonesome.
Aiden Horn caught a pass for 10 yards. He had seven total tackles.
Mason McCoy and Corely Parsley each had five total tackles.
On point-after attempts, Caleb Horn was 2 for 2 on special teams.
Senior leader Brayden Estep wrangled in a pass for 9 yards and rushed for 8.
Parker Maynard and Devan Maynard each picked off the quarterback to give the Cards a chance.
D. Maynard finished off the night with 77 yards rushing on 13 attempts. He completed 9 for 23 for 66 passing yards.
Martin County travels to Prestonsburg (6-0) on Friday night. Former Martin County coach Wesley Hager leads the Blackcats, and fireworks are sure to fly during the highly anticipated district match-up. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
