ONA — For one quarter, No. 13 Buckhannon-Upshur matched strides with fourth-seeded Cabell Midland in the opening round of the Class AAAA playoffs Friday night.
The Buccaneers trailed just 6-0 after the opening period, but a devastating second-quarter blitz by the Knights turned a competitive contest into a rough night for the Bucs as Cabell Midland rolled to a 63-12 victory.
Buckhannon-Upshur moved the ball effectively on its opening possession, driving to the Cabell Midland 26-yard line. A 32-yard connection from Brody McDaniels to Levi Cook highlighted the march, but the drive stalled before the Buccaneers could capitalize.
The B-U defense answered by holding the Knights on downs at the Buccaneer 23-yard line on Cabell Midland’s first possession.
Cabell Midland finally broke through late in the first quarter when Logan Shull connected with Carson Christian on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 48 seconds remaining, giving the Knights a 6-0 advantage.
The game shifted dramatically in the second quarter.
Rajan Thompson raced 47 yards for a touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0 with 8:02 remaining before halftime. From there, the Knights overwhelmed the Buccaneers with a flurry of scores over a 90-second stretch.
After a Buckhannon-Upshur three-and-out, Mason Bryant capped a six-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0. On the ensuing possession, Keian Shelton intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown, pushing the lead to 28-0.
The Buccaneers then turned the ball over again on the first play of their next drive, and Shull quickly made them pay with a 53-yard touchdown keeper that stretched the margin to 35-0 with 3:21 left in the half.
Shelton added a 32-yard touchdown reception with 40 seconds remaining before intermission as Cabell Midland built a commanding 42-0 lead.
Buckhannon-Upshur refused to go quietly.
The Buccaneers responded with their most explosive drive of the night, covering 78 yards in just three plays and 30 seconds. McDaniels connected with Alex Wamsley for 24 yards and Jacob Frye for 42 more before finding Xavier Robinette on a 12-yard fade route for the touchdown to trim the deficit to 42-6 at halftime.
Cabell Midland continued to pull away in the third quarter. Shull broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown run before Bryant scored from one yard out, increasing the lead to 56-6.
Robinette provided another bright spot for the Buccaneers in the fourth quarter, hauling in his second touchdown reception of the night on a nifty 53-yard catch-and-run down the sideline to make it 56-12 with 11:42 remaining.
Luke Fetty capped the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown run for the game’s final points.
“I am proud of the team,” Buckhannon-Upshur coach Sloan Baisden said. “We hung in there for a quarter and a half, and we kept playing until the final whistle.”
The Knights controlled the line of scrimmage throughout the evening, limiting Buckhannon-Upshur’s ground game to just eight yards on eight carries.
The Buccaneers found more success through the air as McDaniels completed 17 of 31 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns. Frye led the receiving corps with seven catches for 82 yards, while Robinette caught two touchdown passes.
“Overall, our offense couldn’t get into a groove,” Baisden said. “Hats off to that Cabell Midland defense. They’re solid on all three levels.”
Cabell Midland piled up 589 yards of total offense, including 442 rushing yards on 40 carries. Shull led the rushing attack with 160 yards and two touchdowns on seven carries, while Bryant added 107 yards and two scores on 12 attempts.
Shull also completed 8 of 13 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns. Shelton caught four passes for 76 yards and a score.
With the win, Cabell Midland improved to 10-1 and advanced to host Morgantown in next week’s quarterfinal round.
For Buckhannon-Upshur, the loss brought the season to a close at 4-7.
Despite the defeat, Baisden praised a senior class that helped engineer a turnaround after enduring a winless sophomore campaign and reaching the state playoffs in each of the past two seasons.
“We love our seniors and are so thankful they were part of the program as long as they were,” Baisden said.
The statistics:
Buckhannon-Upshur 0 6 0 6 – 12
Cabell Midland 6 36 14 7 – 63
(Scoring)
Cabell Midland – Carson Christian, 4-yard pass from Logan Shull (kick failed)
Cabell Midland – Rajan Thompson, 47-yard run (Keian Shelton pass from Shull)
Cabell Midland – Mason Bryant, 3-yard run (Andrew Lafon kick)
Cabell Midland – Shelton, 33-yard interception return (Lafon kick)
Cabell Midland – Shull, 53-yard run (Lafon kick)
Cabell Midland – Shelton, 32-yard pass from Shull (Lafon kick)
Buckhannon-Upshur – Xavier Robinette, 12-yard pass from Brody McDaniels (kick blocked)
Cabell Midland – Shull, 65-yard run (Lafon kick)
Cabell Midland – Bryant, 1-yard run (McIntyre Holmes kick)
Buckhannon-Upshur – Robinette, 53-yard pass from McDaniels (kick failed)
Cabell Midland – Luke Fetty, 4-yard run (Holmes kick)
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – Buckhannon-Upshur: 10 (0 rushing, 8 passing, 2 penalty); Cabell Midland: 22 (18 rushing, 4 passing, 0 penalty).
Rushing yards – Buckhannon-Upshur: 8-8; Cabell Midland: 40-442.
Passing yards – Buckhannon-Upshur: 240; Cabell Midland: 147.
Total yards – Buckhannon-Upshur: 248; Cabell Midland: 589.
Passes – Buckhannon-Upshur: 17-32-2; Cabell Midland: 8-13-0.
Penalties – Buckhannon-Upshur: 5-25; Cabell Midland: 8-80.
Punts – Buckhannon-Upshur: 5-39.0; Cabell Midland: 0-0.0.
Fumbles – Buckhannon-Upshur: 1; Cabell Midland: 1.
Fumbles lost – Buckhannon-Upshur: 0; Cabell Midland: 0.
All-return yards – Buckhannon-Upshur: 22; Cabell Midland: 79.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Buckhannon-Upshur – Connor Marple 1-8; Kadeen Edwards 5-2; Kaydn Baisden 1-2; Isaiah Cole 1-(-4). Totals 8-8.
Cabell Midland – Logan Shull 7-160 (2 touchdowns); Mason Bryant 12-107 (2 touchdowns); Rajan Thompson 8-92 (1 touchdown); Luke Fetty 3-28 (1 touchdown): Chris McClain 4-23; Tatum Johnson 2-15; Randon Roberts 1-8; Carson Christian 2-6; Bryce Chapman 1-3. Totals 40-442 (6 touchdowns).
Passing
Buckhannon-Upshur – McDaniels 17-for-31 for 240 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions; Cole 0-for-1 for 0 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Totals 17-for-32 for 240 yards, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions.
Cabell Midland – Shull 8-for-13 for 147 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.
Receiving
Buckhannon-Upshur – Jacob Frye 7-82; Xavier Robinette 2-65 (2 touchdowns); Levi Cook 5-64; Alex Wamsley 1-25; Baisden 1-6; Edwards 1-(-2). Totals 17-240 (2 touchdowns).
Cabell Midland – Keian Shelton 4-76 (1 touchdown); Bryant 1-35; Eli Thompson 1-19; Brody Maybry 1-13; Christian 1-4 (1 touchdown). Totals 8-147 (2 touchdowns).
Community Bulletin
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