BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
PRESTONSBURG — The Cardinals (4-3) traveled to Prestonsburg (7-0) on Friday hoping to be the Blackcats’ first loss of the season. After a gutsy call from Coach Wesley Hager, Prestonsburg stays undefeated with a 22-21 win over Martin County.
Early in the contest, Crayson “Bones” Lafferty recovered a fumble. But the Cards would not score until the second quarter, down 7-0 to the Blackcats.
Parker Watts took the forward flip behind the line from quarterback Devan Maynard. He saw a wall at the 40-yard line and danced to his left before high-stepping down the sideline for a touchdown. Caleb Horn sent the point-after through the uprights to tie the game.
Another score would not be put on the board until the third quarter.
Maynard took the snap from the 32-yard line and paused to see his options before taking off. He hit a Blackcat with a stiff arm at the 15 and hit paydirt to give the Cards the lead.
It did not last long though as Prestonsburg answered to knot the score up at 14.
Facing third-and-2 from the 42-yard line, Maynard’s number was called again. With well-placed blocks from his teammates, he crossed the goal line again to put the Cardinals up 21-14 with just over two minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Prestonsburg responded with a touchdown with less than 5 minutes left in the game. Coach Hager went for the lead and it paid off for him. The Cards could not bounce back.
Maynard ran for 150 yards on 18 attempts. The QB was 6 for 9 to receiver Watts for 78 yards in the air.
Aiden Horn rushed for 9 yards, Damian Cheek for 4 on one attempt, and Lafferty ran for 3.
Caleb Horn was 3 for 3 on point-after attempts.
Brayden Estep had one interception on the evening.
The Cards will have a break this Friday and will host Knott County (5-1) on Oct. 18 at 7:30 p.m. for their homecoming game.
