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Cabell Midland finding ways to win during unbeaten start to season

ONA, W.Va. — Halfway to an unbeaten regular season, Cabell Midland has delivered down the stretch in games as well as any team in the state.

The Knights, 5-0 and No. 1 in Class AAA, scored a touchdown with 17 seconds remaining last Friday to remain unbeaten with a 26-21 victory over Capital.

Having overcome several injuries to key skill position players, Cabell Midland has earned four straight victories over playoff teams from 2018, including the last three by a total of 16 points.

“Our kids are tough and they’re in good shape,” Midland head coach Luke Salmons said. “They’re physical. Capital did a good job of stopping us on some key downs. But they didn’t flinch and that’s how they’ve been. We’ve lost different kids and it doesn’t bother them.”

Following lopsided wins over St. Albans and Parkersburg to start the season, the Knights held on to top Spring Valley, 28-21. Cabell Midland then used a late 98-yard drive to score the winning touchdown in a 20-16 victory over Hurricane, before getting by the Cougars.

The Knights have continued to win despite injuries to running backs Isaiah Vaughn and Jaydyn Johnson, along with co-starting quarterback Chandler Schmidt.

Senior J.J. Roberts has taken the majority of the reps at quarterback, but also has been hampered by an ankle injury. He missed most of the win over Hurricane along with a few plays against the Cougars.

“J.J. is not 100 percent and you have four guys we worked with all summer that aren’t even in the game,” Salmons said. “I could write a book (on the adversity the Knights have overcome). We returned one lineman from last year. All these kids are new.” 

Roberts, a Wake Forest commit, adds another dimension to the team’s dominant ground game with his speed and has nine rushing touchdowns this season.

Roberts is second on the team in rushing yardage behind junior Jakob Caudill, who has seven TDs on the ground, including two against Capital.

The game-winning score came on a 12-yard run by sophomore Jackson Fetty, who Salmons said hadn’t been used at tailback since middle school.

“We thought we’d held them, but they fought through and through and they just beat us,” Capital coach Jon Carpenter said.

The week prior against the Redskins, Fetty took over behind center when Roberts was lost for the game in the first quarter.

Two of the Knights’ five remaining contests are against teams that currently have winning records, including Friday’s home matchup with No. 8 Riverside (3-1).

Following next week’s regular season home finale vs. Princeton, Cabell Midland plays three straight road games, the second of which is against Huntington.

While the team’s backfield depth likely makes the running game the biggest key to the second half of the season, Midland’s defensive play shouldn’t go unnoticed.

The Knights have not allowed more than 21 points in a game and are holding teams to fewer than 17 points per game despite facing a number of above average offenses.

“We returned some guys on defense, but a lot of them are new kids and they’re hungry,” Salmons said. “They’ve bought into being tough.”





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