Sports
Parkersburg Falls 45-42 To Cabell Midland
< < Back to parkersburg-falls-45-42-cabell-midlandThe first round of the WVSSAC AAA Playoffs featured a rematch of two Mountain State Athletic Conference Teams. The winner of Cabell Midland and Parkersburg’s matchup was not decided until the final minutes, as the Cabell Midland Knights protected their lead to down the Parkersburg Big Red, 45-42.
Devin Stapleton sealed the victory for the Knights, intercepting a Daniel Fox pass on a trick play with 1:13 left.
Cabell Midland struck first with a 65-yard touchdown return on the opening kickoff from Brady Elkins, an after two quick three-and-outs by both squads, Parkersburg quarterback Josh Trembly found Karson Snyder for a 31-yard pass to tie it up at seven.
Trembly entered the game with only 771 passing yards on the season. The Knights’ game plan wasn’t based on stopping Trembly’s arm, and Big Red coach Don Reeves exploited that, as Trembly completed 12 of 19 pass attempts for 301 yards.
Cabell Midland running back Alex Childers made it a 14-7 ball game with four minutes left in the first quarter. Childers powered his way into the end zone early in the second quarter make it a two touchdown game.
The Big Knights struggled to stop the Knights running backs all afternoon. Caperton Humphrey rushed 21 times for 263 yards. Childers finished with 26 rushes and 176 yards.
Scoring went back-and-forth until the middle of the third quarter, when a trailing Parkersburg team stepped up on defense on fourth down and got the ball on its own 33. After a quick three-and-out, the Big Red punted, but Stapleton muffed the punt to give the Big Reds the ball back just short of the red zone.
Three plays later, Knights corner Jesse Myers, snagged a pick right on the 20 to stop the Big Red from scoring in the rest of the third quarter. The score was 42-28 at the end of the third quarter.
With the win seemingly in the Knights’ hands, Chase Shank silenced the crowd with a 40-yard touchdown run to cut Cabell Midland’s lead to seven. The Knights fired back with a 20-yard field goal from Chris Heiner to set the score at 45-35.
Parkersburg went to Trembly’s arm once again and he found Karson Snyder for a 56-yard touchdown pass to put everyone on their feet inside Knights’ Field. Cabell Midland did not have any momentum at this point, and were forced into another three-and-out.
A driving Parkersburg saw their hopes dashed with Stapleton’s interception.
With the win, the Knights will go on to face Huntington in the quarterfinals of the WVSSAC AAA Playoffs at Knights’ Field.