BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — The homecoming night was quite a spectacle for the Cardinal faithful. Martin County (5-3) hosted Knott Central (6-2) on Friday after a busy week of festivities. The Cards marched past the Patriots from the opening kickoff and handed Knott County their second loss of the season 49-0.
Devan Maynard continues to prove why he’s one of the best players in the state. The junior bullied his way into the endzone on a quarterback sneak for the first touchdown of the game.
Less than four minutes later, senior Julian Stafford showed off his burst and acceleration from his own 27-yard line when he broke loose down the sideline for a touchdown to put the Cards up 13-0 early in the contest.
Shortly after on the next drive, the Cards forced a fumble and took over possession. Weston Jude scored from inside the five for a 20-0 lead in the first quarter.
Young gun Parker Maynard punched out another fumble on the following Knott Central drive and Damian Cheek jumped on the pigskin to recover.
The Cardinals quickly capitalized and handed off to Parker Watts. No one could catch him as he ran it in from 49 yards out with 5:11 still remaining in the first stanza.
Martin County was on business before the buzzer could even sound to end the opening quarter.
D. Maynard took the snap and showed the handoff before looking downfield. The QB saw a Knott defender break the line and spun out of a tackle before capping off a 40-yard touchdown run.
Cheek busted past the goal line for a two-point conversion and a running clock versus the Patriots.
It was quite a night for the senior as Cheek had been out for a few weeks with a concussion.
On his return to the field, “It feels amazing. Sitting out made me realize how much I’m going to miss this and how appreciative of the coaches I am.”
Central took the kickoff and made their way downfield.
Sophomore Jerrod Haney knocked down a pass with Knott County in Cardinal territory. Haney stayed hungry on the following play and wrestled away a pass from a Patriot receiver for an interception to end the quarter.
The Cardinals kept putting points on the board. Aiden Horn broke away from three defenders in the red zone before crossing the goal line.
With the homecoming crowd still on their feet, Jonothan Cline soared for an interception to send both teams to the locker room.
Martin County still had one left in the tank in the second half.
Haney passed to P. Maynard at the opposing team’s sideline. He took off and hit paydirt for a 28-yard touchdown.
“Our guys were excited coming off a bye week. They had a chip on their shoulder and their aggressiveness and physicality was the difference tonight,” Coach Josh Muncy said after the win.
“We’ve put more tools in our toolbox and went back to some things we used to run. It went well for us.”
Stafford led the night with 106 yards on the ground for the Cards and one touchdown.
Horn ran for 63 yards and Watts for 54. Each Cardinal scored a touchdown.
Signal caller D. Maynard rushed for 41 yards and two touchdowns. Ranked third in the 2A in scoring, the multi-sport athlete is a force to be reckoned with.
“I’m glad everyone got to key in. We needed a win like this. Our coaches made great calls tonight,” said Maynard. Asked how he has gotten to where he is, QB-1 responded with, “Hard work and dedication. Stay true to myself and stay humble.”
Homecoming king Weston Jude rushed for 36 yards and one TD in the win.
Crayson “Bones” Lafferty racked up 28 yards rushing on one attempt.
Haney was 5-for-5 on completed passes for 47 yards. He ran twice for 18 yards and had one interception on the night.
Jeremy Begley wrangled in two passes for 19 yards.
Kicker Caleb Horn was 5 of 5 on point-after attempts.
Martin County will travel to take on former Cardinal coach Shawn Hager at Floyd Central (0-8) on Oct. 25 for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
