By Rick Kozlowski
MARTINSBURG — Martinsburg celebrated Easter of sorts Friday night as the Bulldogs hosted Huntington in a battle of the state’s top-two-ranked teams in Class AAAA by one Mountain State rating.
Kyrie Bunny was hopping all over Cobourn Field at Walker Stadium.
The wide receiver caught six passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns in helping to lead Martinsburg to a 47-15 victory over the Highlanders.
The Bulldogs scored on their first four possessions, getting a 1-yard touchdown plunge from quarterback Koi Fagan on the first series after Martinsburg won the coin toss and took the ball.
Fagan’s run was part of 10 first-quarter carries for him.
Running the ball in the first half alone, Fagan came up with 113 rushing yards.
After his score, Fagan, playing the part of a magician, pulled the Bunny from his helmet.
He threw three straight touchdown passes to Bunny in the first half, scores that covered 17, 21 and 70 yards as Martinsburg held a 28-15 lead at halftime.
For good measure, backup quarterback Brian Dick tossed a 37-yard touchdown pass to Bunny on Martinsburg’s first series of the second half.
“I couldn’t do that without Koi Fagan,” said Bunny, who changed his number from 13 to become the first Martinsburg player to wear jersey 0.
“I was zeroed in,” Bunny said with some prompting.
So were the Bulldogs, who had the upper hand throughout the game and never were really threatened.
Bunny seemed to find openings all over that he exploited, and Fagan found him.
“We worked all summer,” Fagan said, “every day after practice, and it came to show tonight.”
Martinsburg coach David Walker was pleased by the performance of his squad.
“They’ve got a helluva football team,” Walker said. “(Taveon) Wilson getting hurt affected them, took some fire out of them.
“We played hard, and I’m really proud of them, I thought we came in with a very good game plan, and we were executing.”
Huntington coach Billy Seals refused to use the lengthy, six-hour bus ride nor Wilson’s absence for his team’s loss that dropped the Highlanders to 1-1.
“We got to see what championship football looked like tonight,” Seals said. “We had the opportunity to play against the premier programs in the state and we didn’t match up very well.
“If you don’t stop anybody, it doesn’t really matter.”
Huntington managed touchdown runs of 3 and 2 yards from Keegan Sack and a 20-yard field goal from Jordan Price.
Price scored first, but he also had an extra point blocked by Ace Flores. Flores also batted down a two-point pass attempt and managed a sack.
Dick ran 5 yards for a touchdown and fellow reserve Collin Schaffner added a 7-yard rushing score midway through the final quarter.
Right after the national anthem was played, shots rang out from outside of the stadium. The Panhandle News Network reported several fans were hit by either bullets or shrapnel, though their injuries were not life-threatening.
Huntington and Martinsburg previously faced each other only in the postseason, including the Class AAA semifinals the past two seasons.
The Highlanders defeated the Bulldogs in 2022 and won the state championship, while Martinsburg prevailed a season ago on the way to the program’s 10th state title.
Walker directed nine of the state crowns starting in 2010.
