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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
Miscues pave way to 41-8 loss for Knights
BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- It was a bad night to have the worst game of the year.
Dropped passes, fumbles and an inability to stop the Bridgeport offense brought Cabell Midland's season to an abrupt end Friday night when the Indians posted a 41-8 win in the Class AAA quarterfinals at Wayne Jamison Stadium.
"Hats off to Bridgeport. They did a great job," first-year Cabell Midland coach Luke Salmons said. "Our kids had a great year and there's nothing to be ashamed of. They were 3-7 last year and finished 8-4 so it's a great turnaround."
The Knights were held off the scoreboard until late when Kasey Thomas broke a 42-yard scoring run with 4:54 left. Thomas finished with 79 yards in the contest.
Bridgeport took a 20-0 lead into the locker room at halftime and continued to run at will while Cabell Midland had four of its drives end in Indians' territory with no points.
The Indians had 341 yards rushing and just one negative rushing play.
Coming in, it was a matter of which team would establish a lead and get the opposition out of its rhythm. That proved to be Bridgeport.
"If we get caught up in any team that we play and we have to get out of our game, we aren't very good," Salmons said. "That's the same as if Bridgeport were to get down by 14, ya know? We're not going to throw the ball 30 times to be successful."
The first half was all Bridgeport as the Indians used the powerful Stick-I offense to push forward to a 20-0 lead without having to throw a pass.
After taking the ball to open the game, Bridgeport marched 12 plays for 58 yards, capped by Nick Smith's 1-yard scoring run.
It was the beginning of a big half for Smith, who had three first-half scores.
On the ensuing possession, Cabell Midland went to the air on the first play and Stephen Matthews got behind the defense, but the ball fell through his hands.
"On the first play, we knew we could probably get them on the hitch-and-go and we did," Salmons said. "It was a great throw. We just dropped it. That was big right out of the gate because it could've been 7-7. Those things take the wind out of you.
The end result was a three-and-out that led to a punt, and four plays later, Smith bounced off the edge, ran through three tackles and lumbered 48 yards to the end zone.
Cabell Midland's next possession ended in a fumble inside the Bridgeport 20-yard line, and the Indians embarked on a 12-play, 86-yard drive that ate up seven minutes of clock before Smith's score with 4:50 left made it 20-0.
The key to the drive was a 27-yard run on third-and-7 by quarterback Troy Anderson after it appeared the Knights might get a stop.
CABELL MIDLAND 0 0 0 8 -- 8
BRIDGEPORT 14 6 7 14 -- 41
B -- Smith 1 run (Kornbrath kick)
B -- Smith 48 run (Kornbrath kick)
B -- Smith 1 run (kick blocked)
B -- Hathaway 13run (Kornbrath kick)
B -- Hathaway 1 run (Kornbrath kick)
B -- Cam. Stanley 7 run (Kornbrath kick)
CM -- K. Thomas 42 run (Thomas pass from Hamer)
CM B
Total yards 207 381
First downs 7 21
Rushes-Yds 33-177 50-341
Comp-Att-Int 3-14-0 1-1-0
Passing yards 30 40
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-Yds 6-57 4-35
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- Cabell Midland: K. Thomas 9-79, TD; Carter 8-21; Farley 9-61; Hamer 7-16. Bridgeport: Hathaway 25-143, 2 TDs; Smith 11-90, 3 TDs; Bonamico 5-31; Anderson 2-30; Stanley 1-17, TD; Calderon 2-16; Savoy 4-14.
PASSING -- Cabell Midland: Hamer 3-of-14, 30 yards. Bridgeport: Anderson 1-of-1, 40 yards.
RECEIVING -- Cabell Midland: Moore 1-12; Matthews 1-9; Brooks 1-9. Bridgeport: Bleyer 1-40.
