BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

FLOYD COUNTY — Crayson “Bones” Lafferty was a menace on defense and helped lead Martin County (6-3) to a 35-6 win at Floyd Central (0-9) on Friday night. With the win, the Cardinals have secured a home playoff game in November.

Lafferty, the third leading tackler in 2A at 14.4 per game, finished this contest with a bone-crushing 22 total tackles. He brought 10 down all on his own—two for loss while one was a sack.

The first score of the game came at the 4:21 mark when quarterback Devan Maynard powered through into the end zone behind his offensive line from the 2-yard line for a touchdown.

Maynard is in the top 50 in 2A for both rushing (7th) at 113 yards per game and passing (21st) at 89 yards per game. The multifaceted QB also ranks fourth in scoring, averaging 15.1 points per game.

The Cardinals stayed hard at work when facing third-and-2 versus the Jaguars. Parker Watts took the handoff for the next Martin County score. Watts busted through the defense down the right sideline for a 29-yard touchdown run. The super athlete is ranked 37th in 2A in scoring.

Maynard continued to show why he is a nightmare for other teams on both sides of the ball. With Floyd Central in Cardinal territory, he rose above the Jaguar offense and intercepted the pigskin. Maynard bolted downfield for a 90-yard pick-six and put the Cards ahead 20-0.

Martin County put another on the board in the third quarter. Watts received the handoff from the 36-yard line and took off downfield untouched.

With just over six minutes remaining in the contest, senior Julian Stafford jumped in on the action. After a fake handoff, Stafford broke to his left and hit paydirt from 15 yards out. Kicker Caleb Horn sent the point-after through the uprights for a 35-6 final score.

Horn was 5-for-5 on the night on special teams.

Watts finished the night with 82 yards on the ground and two touchdowns.

Maynard had 54 yards rushing, two touchdowns, one pick-six, and 10 total tackles on defense with half of those being solo.

Stafford racked up 53 yards in the dirt, one touchdown and seven total tackles.

After missing a portion of the season due to injury, senior Damian Cheek returned for the Cards in a big way. He had 69 yards on four rushing attempts. Cheek had 16 tackles, three for a loss and brought seven Jaguars down by himself.

Alongside his 22 tackles, Lafferty forced a fumble and ran for 25 yards.

Weston Jude had 16 total tackles, with eight of those solo. He rushed for 8 yards.

Senior Jack Cline and Brayden Estep each had an interception. Chase Stacy caught a pass for 15 yards.

Sophomore Kendal Mullins recovered a fumble and brought down four Jaguars.

Mason McCoy, Brayden Fannin and Peyton Lowe combined for 30 total tackles for the Cards.

Martin County will host their senior night against East Carter (6-2) on Friday (Nov. 1) at The Rock with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.