ONA, W.Va. — George Washington scored the final 13 points Monday evening to defeat Cabell Midland, 27-12 in a game that was a one-score contest until the late stages of the fourth quarter.
Playing three days behind schedule due to a power outage in the Ona area on Friday night, the Patriots found the end zone three times after halftime to run their record to 3-0.
“We were able to finally get comfortable being uncomfortable. Having to play on a Monday, thinking we were going to play Saturday, a couple and cancellations for whatever reasons, our guys were fighting through that. Especially with no practice in between, I thought they did a really nice job,” said George Washington head coach Steve Edwards, Jr.
“It took us a while because they played really hard. Cabell Midland played hard. But we found out a little bit about ourselves. We found out we are in pretty good shape. That helped us out a lot.”
After a scoreless first quarter that took just 18 minutes to complete, Cabell Midland (0-3) used a big play to break the stalemate. Facing third-and-13, Logan Shull found Keian Shelton behind the GW defense on a 39-yard touchdown reception, giving Midland a 6-0 lead.
The visitors drew even with 40 seconds left in the first half. Cy Persinger connected with Kai Martin on a 15-yard touchdown toss, tying the score at 6 at intermission.
“The message [at halftime] was that we have been here before. And good teams come back. We were never panicky. It was a really big play on that opening kickoff of the second half.”
GW recovered a fumble on the opening kickoff in the second half and they quickly cashed it in for points when Persinger scored on a one-yard run. The resulting two-point conversion gave GW their first lead of the game at 14-6.
However, Midland used a drive that chewed 8:58 off the clock and ended with a two-yard touchdown run from Hudson Workman. The Knights trailed 14-12 heading into the fourth quarter.
In the final frame, GW used touchdown runs from Persinger (2 yards) and Jaden Black (18 yards) sandwiched around an interception from Martin to put the game out of reach.
Persinger had two rushing touchdowns and three total touchdowns in the game.
“My coaching staff really made some good adjustments. It helped a bunch. When things are working, you look real smart.”
Both teams will prepare for their Week 4 matchups with just three days of practice. The Knights will face Spring Valley while the Patriots host South Charleston.