By TIM STEPHENS, The Herald-Dispatch
ONA — Oak Hill was elated after stopping Cabell Midland on fourth down at the Red Devils’ 11-yard line with 7:01 left in the second quarter.
Why not? The Knights (4-1) converted four fourth-down plays in their first two drives, three on the first and one on the second, and scored on both. Cabell Midland turned that 14-0 lead to a 47-0 victory at the Castle.
“Usually we go for it,” Knights coach Luke Salmons said. “That’s just a part of what we do.”
Cabell Midland opened with a 13-play, 58-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard touchdown run by Zaky Roberts, followed by an extra point by Olivia Charles. The Knights picked up first down on fourth-down plays at their own 49, the Red Devils’ 42 and the Oak Hill 7.
After linebacker Nic Giampolo recovered a fumble on the Red Devils’ 17, quarterback Ryan Wolfe burst through the middle for a 1-yard touchdown six plays later to make it 14-0. The key play was an 11-yard run on fourth-and-8 from the 15.
Oak Hill eventually made a fourth-down stop at its own 10 when Jeremiah Jackson sacked Wolfe for a 5-yard loss.
The Knights’ fourth-down success might have been demoralizing for the Red Devils, but Oak Hill (3-3) hung close, despite being outgained 204-26 in the first half. Cabell Midland, though, essentially put the game out of reach when Wolfe ran 8 yards for a TD at 8:02 of the third quarter, making it 21-0.
Wolfe added a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:43 left in the third quarter to push the lead to 27-0. After Curtis Jones scored from the 2, Wolfe added a 6-yard TD run. Logan Hobbs finished the scoring with a 48-yard run with 1:41 left in the game.
Jones carried 20 times for 155 yards and Wolfe 18 for 76 as the Knights outgained Oak Hill 403-39.
“We started out kind of slow, but toward the end after halftime we picked it up,” Jones said. “We made some minor adjustments and just had to play our game.”
Before the game, the Knights honored former all-state running back Jakob Caudill, who suffered a life-threatening head injury in a fall on July 4. Caudill was named an honorary captain and participated in the coin toss.
Both teams return to action Friday. Cabell Midland entertains Spring Valley at 7:30 p.m. Oak Hill plays host to Greenbrier East at 7 p.m.
OAK HILL 0 0 0 0 — 0
CABELL MIDLAND 14 0 13 20 — 47
CM — Roberts 4 run (Charles kick)
CM — Wolfe 1 run (Charles kick)
CM — Wolfe 8 run (kick failed)
CM — Wolfe 3 run (Charles kick)
CM — Jones 2 run (Charles kick)
CM — Wolfe 6 run (Charles kick)
CM — Hobbs 48 run (no PAT attempted)
Team statistics
OH CM
First downs 3 20
Rushes-yards 26-39 55-403
Passes 1-2-0 0-4-0
Passing yards 0 0
Total yards 39 403
Fumbles-lost 3-2 0-0
Penalties-yards 1-5 2-25
Punts 5-31.0 0-0
Individual statistics
Rushing
Oak Hill: unidentified player 6-8, Mauritz 9-(minus-17), Vargo-Thomas 5-11, Thomas 2-10, Lewis 1-10, Kiszka 1-2, Green 2-15; Cabell Midland Wolfe 18-76, Jones 20-155, Roberts 9-64, Grace 6-55; Hobbs 1-48, Branch 1-5.
Passing
Oak Hill: Alex Colaiseno 1-2-0, 0 yards; Cabell Midland Wolfe 0-4-0.
Receiving
Oak Hill: Baxter 1-0; Cabell Midland: none.
