Eden-Morehead displayed a crisp, efficient offense and an opportunistic defense Friday night, converting five Martinsville turnovers into 22 points on the way to a 34-10 victory at Dan Greene Memorial Stadium.
“The turnovers were big, because there were a couple times when we had momentum, we thought offensively, but we still didn’t find a way to stop them,” said Martinsville head coach Bobby Dalton. “... That’s just the biggest thing. No matter how things turned out, defensively tonight, we were having trouble stopping them.”
Panthers quarterback Jamaal Winfield put on a show with his arms and legs, churning out 198 total yards of offense and four scores, three of them through the air.
“He was able to find escape routes and make big plays. It seemed like we had him a couple times, and he hit us with big touchdown passes, but I attribute that to him,” Dalton said of Winfield. “He’s just a tremendous athlete playing that position. And I guess you shouldn’t say ‘tremendous athlete.’ He was a tremendous quarterback tonight. He played very well.”
The game’s first possession provided hints of things to come, as Martinsville fullback Marquill Eggleston ran for a modest gain but fumbled, allowing Morehead’s Devron Dillard to scoop it up and rumble 47 yards for the TD.
After Morehead completed the two-point conversion pass, the Panthers (2-2) led 8-0 with 10:06 remaining in the first quarter.
Eggleston fumbled again in the second quarter, and again Morehead converted the turnover into eight points.
“...Myself as a captain, I take full responsibility,” said Eggleston. “Fumbling the ball, turnovers, you don’t expect that out of me coming into my junior season. That isn’t supposed to happen ... I take full blame for that.”
For the game, Martinsville had four fumbles, two of which were recovered by Morehead, and three interceptions, each thrown by Bulldog quarterback Javon Tarpley.
“In the two films that we saw, we thought they were a little suspect with fumbles,” said Morehead coach Jason Smart. “We worked a lot this week with defense, putting that hat on the ball, trying to force turnovers. And they did it.”
Martinsville scored on its second possession of the game when Cedric Tarpley sprinted and spun through the Panther defense for a 52-yard TD to make the score 8-7. After Morehead went up 14-7, kicker Colin Welch added a 42-yard field goal near the end of the first quarter to pull the ’Dogs within four of the lead, 14-10, but Martinsville would not score again.
In contrast, Winfield seemed to have his way, constantly finding open receivers and room to run across Martinsville’s home field.
On third-and-8 early in the game, he lofted a pass down the right sideline for receiver A.J. Artis, who out-jumped a Martinsville defensive back to score the team’s second touchdown. Winfield then connected with Artis again on a third-and-goal strike along the back of the end zone to make it 20-10 with 9:06 remaining in the first half.
Winfield gave his club a 28-10 lead late in the second quarter on a 10-yard dash up the right hash on fourth-and-1.
Later, he threw a bullet to running back Kersee King near the deep pylon on the far side of the field for the game’s final score, despite getting leveled by Eggleston just as he released the ball.
“If I didn’t (have Winfield), I wouldn’t be running the spread,” Smart said of his team’s offensive scheme. “As he goes, our offense goes. ... He’s the type of kid that has to be on the field.”
Javon Tarpley led the ’Dogs with 70 yards on 18 carries, while Cedric Tarpley carried had 64 yards on three runs.
Score by Quarters
Morehead 14 14 6 9 — 34
Martinsville 10 0 0 0 — 10
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
More. — D. Dillard 47-yard fumble return. (J. Winfield 2-point pass). 10:06
Mart. — C. Tarpley 52-yard reverse. (Welch kick). 7:21
More. — J. Winfield 28-yard pass to A.J. Artis. (J. Winfield pass failed). 6:23
Mart. — C. Welch 42-yard field goal. 0:37
Second Quarter
More. — J. Winfield 4-yard pass to A.J. Artis. (K. King run). 9:06
More. — J. Winfield 10-yard run. (J. Winfield pass). 2:53
Third Quarter
More. — J. Winfield 10-yard pass to K. King. (J. Winfield pass failed). 1:23
Fourth Quarter
No scoring
Team stats
More. Mart.
Passing C-A-I 9-20-0 3-9-3
Passing (Y) 85 25
Rushing A-Y 40-166 39-215
Total Yards 255 240
First Downs 14 11
Penalties #-Y 7-60 5-42
Turnovers 0 5
Punts-Avg. 3-20.7 2-39.5
Time of Pos. 21:04 26:56
Individual statistics
Rushing: Morehead — J. Winfield 16-113, TD; T. Strickland 14-41; K. King 6-10; J. Anderson 3-2. Martinsville — J. Tarpley 18-70; C. Tarpley 3-64, TD; M. Eggleston 6-34; F. Williams 4-33; I. Hairston 5-11; D. Ziglar 3-3.
Passing: Morehead — J. Winfield 9-for-20, 85, 3 TDs. Martinsville — J. Tarpley 2-for-8, 25 yards, 3 Ints; I. Hairston 0-1-0.
Receiving: Morehead — A.J. Artis 5-67, 2 TDs; K. King 2-13, TD; J. Anderson 1-5. Martinsville — J. Turner 1-13; C. Tarpley 1-12.
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