John Marshall Hits Road to Take on Top-Seeded Cabell Midland
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ONA -- A pair of teams with completely different resumes are slated to open the West Virginia Class AAA playoffs Sunday after at 1:30 p.m. when 16th seeded John Marshall travels to bottom portion of the state to take on powerful, unbeaten and top-seeded Cabell Midland.
Coach Jason Willis' Monarchs have won five of nine games on the season but are also coming off a bye week after having games with Wheeling Park and then Washington both canceled due to COVID. It was the first time this season John Marshall was forced to miss a contest, even though the Marshall County school has come close a couple of times.
On the other hand, Coach Luke Salmons' Knights have won all five of their games but had a three-week break before pounding St. Albans by a 71-13 margin last week. During its three week break Cabell Midland tried desperately to find opponents, but to no avail.
The task facing the Monarchs Sunday is to put a defense on the field that has had trouble stopping the run against a Knights' offense that is well known for piling up infantry yards.
John Marshall's last game was a 53-21 setback to Class AA power Keyser in which the Monarchs were held to just over 100 yards rushing while allowing 437 on the ground and five touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Cabell Midland racked up a whopping 594 yards on the ground against St. Albans, with four different rushers going over 100 yards in the contest.
Running back Jakob Caudill led the way with 14 carries for 142 yards and two scores with Isaiah Vaughn adding 127 on eight tries and two touchdowns. Quarterback Jaydyn Johnson finished with 101 yards on seven carries with a touchdown while Baden Gillispie finished with five carries for 128 and a score.
Johnson completed just two passes for 35 yards on the night, one of those a 28-yard scoring strike to Gillispie.
The Knights average 54 points a game, with their closest game of the season a 28-20 victory over Hurricane. They also own a decisive 62-20 triumph over Class AA powerhouse Poca earlier this year. The 71 points last week were a school record.
"They are a big, physical team that likes to run the football and does it very well," Willis said. "Their fullback does a very nice job finding holes and running the ball. On defense they absolutely fly to the football. There is no question this is going to be a huge challenge for us.
"The other challenge has been the fact that we have been in the Orange (on the Covid map) and trying to practice and get ready has been a real challenge. We have watched a lot of film and that team is No. 1 for a reason. All we can do is show up and see what happens. We earned our spot and we deserve to be here, there is just where we ended up."
John Marshall is led on offense by senior running back Dalton Flowers, who has gained over 1,000 yards on the season, and is complemented greatly by classmate Alex Burton. Quarterback Derrick Derrow was six of 14 for 60 yards in their last outing with Flowers catching two passes for 16 yards and a score. That touchdown catch actually knotted the count at 7-7 in the second quarter before Keyser went on to score the next five touchdowns.
Flowers did add an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown as well.
The Monarchs have lost three of their last four games, allowing an average of 58 points an outing in those games, but have shown the ability to put big points on the scoreboard. Their only win in that stretch was a 61-21 victory over Brooke.
"We have had to mix up our offensive line with guys out due to quarantine and it hasn't been easy opening up holes," Willis said. "But we have all of those kids back and hopefully that will help us try to get the ball into our playmaker's hands and into space.
"Honestly, we were in the Red last Friday and we really thought that our season was over and we wouldn't play again, but late Saturday there were some changes made and that gives us an extra day to get where we need to be to be able to play this week."
The winner of this game advances to the Class AAA quarterfinals next week against the winner of No. 9 Spring Mills (5-2) and No. 8 Parkersburg (6-2), which is also scheduled for this Sunday at 1:30 p.m.