By Rick Kozlowski
MARTINSBURG — Try as Huntington might to try to contain Martinsburg standout quarterback and Kennedy Award candidate Koi Fagan, the senior showed up just in the nick of time for the Bulldogs.
Fagan finally escaped the Highlanders’ grasp on a 47-yard run to set up the go-ahead touchdown, then got his hands on a running back trying to score a two-point conversion in the final minute and finally secured an onside kick as Martinsburg held on for a 35-34 victory.
Ace Flores made the tackle on Keegan Sack after Fagan, coming from outside linebacker, spun the runner on the two-point attempt.
“I saw the formation and knew the ball was going to be ran to the right,” Flores said. “I knew it was going to the right.
“I saw him sprint out and I hit him straight up.”
On the play before the two-point try, Huntington quarterback Avonte’ Crawford scrambled 19 yards for a touchdown, making it 35-34 with 41 seconds remaining in the game.
The series before, Brian Dick ran 6 yards for his third touchdown to finish with 98 yards to put Martinsburg ahead by seven points.
“That game was wild,” Flores said.
It was the most-exciting game at Cobourn Field at Walker Stadium in two decades, since Kennedy Award-winning quarterback Nate Sowers drew Jefferson offsides on a fourth down, and Martinsburg, which trailed by two touchdowns midway through the final period, won the game in the final minute.
That game in 2004 also finished 35-34 .
Coincidentally enough, the defensive coordinator in that game for Jefferson was current Martinsburg defensive leader Mark Hash.
“There were four or five things we talked about (during timeouts),” Hash said about the conversion try. “The biggest thing was to make sure the edges were secure.
“We thought they’d put (Zah) Jackson at tailback. The two times before, he ran up the middle and bounced outside. This time (Sack), tried to go up the middle, but he was hit (by Fagan) and spun. We were there.”
And that was that in a game that went back and forth between the two teams that entered play with 11-1 records with Jackson scoring three touchdowns.
Martinsburg’s loss came via a forfeit for using an ineligible player.
Huntington had lost to Martinsburg 47-15 the second week of the season.
The teams faced each other in the previous two Class AAA semifinals, with Huntington prevailing in 2022 and Martinsburg winning a season ago.
“I felt like we defended them well,” Huntington coach Billy Seals said. “No offense to anybody else, but these were the two best teams in the state on this field here.
“We felt we could match up with them athletically.”
For all but one play.
“Give Martinsburg credit,” Seals said. “They made a big play.”
The Bulldogs were worried about the two-point attempt.”
“They had been gashing us running the ball,” Martinsburg coach David Walker said. “Our guys stood tall, stepped up and made the play.”
The Highlanders could’ve gone for two one of their previous touchdowns. Seals spurned an attempt when Martinsburg blocked the extra-point kick, but a leaping penalty moved the ball to within a yard-and-a-half of the goal line.
“We thought about it,” Seals said. “We just knew we had to get a stop.”
They didn’t as Fagan completed four passes for 71 yards, the final one going to Boston Todd for 43 yards and a touchdown that tied the game at 28.
The next offensive series for Martinsburg, Fagan finally escaped Huntington’s hold with the 47-yard run that set up Dick’s 6-yard run with 1:54 to play.
Fagan said Huntington was switching up its defensive looks before the snap.
“I thought I could’ve been more productive,” Fagan said. “That play was there most of the game.
“We just knew we had to get something.”
Seals said the Highlanders used a spy on Fagan for just one play.
Fagan finished with 97 yards rushing on 18 plays. He threw for 160 yards.
“He’s a really good player,” Seals said. “He made plays when he needed to.
“If Koi or a couple of our players don’t get the Kennedy, they might as well throw it in the can.”
One of Seals’ players, Jackson, signed earlier this week with West Virginia and expects to play safety.
Jackson gave Huntington a 7-0 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter when he bolted 5 yards for his first score.
“I ran the ball well,” Jackson said, “but I got to give the line credit. The line blocked well.”
Jackson finished with 74 yards rushing while Sack carried the ball 24 times for 130 yards.
Jackson’s touchdown came after Tayveon Wilson picked off Fagan for his first of two interceptions. Fagan also lost a fumble.
However, Fagan ran 15 yards for a touchdown to knot the game at 7 with three minutes left in the first half.
Martinsburg went ahead with a drive of nearly six minutes to start the second half when Fagan shoveled the ball to Dick, who scored from 9 yards out for the first of two TD passes by Fagan.
The Bulldogs’ lead went to 21-7 as Dick ran 16 yards for a touchdown with 2:15 left in the third quarter.
Huntington closed to within 21-14 a minute later as Jackson ran 5 yards for his second touchdown.
Then the game turned as Dick, in punt formation, was stopped for no gain as he tried to run the football, much like he had on a similar play for a 24-yard jaunt earlier in the game.
“He was supposed to punt,” Walker said. “He said he didn’t get the call. He got the snap and ran.
“They went right down and scored.”
Huntington used five plays to score on a 9-yard run by Sack.
After Fagan’s fumble on Martinsburg’s ensuing possession, Jackson ran 4 yards for a touchdown, giving the Highlanders a 28-21 lead.
But Martinsburg tied the game on Boston’s pass reception and went ahead on Dick’s final touchdown run to set up the frantic finish.
Dick finished with 98 yards rushing.
“Everybody knows who Koi is,” Walker said. “Their whole plan was to take him away, but he made the plays when he had to.”
Given the value he has provided Martinsburg throughout the season, it seemed symbolic that the ball would wind up in his hands to effectively end the game.
“I just had to get my hands on it,” Fagan said of the onside kick.
The top-seeded Bulldogs will go to next Saturday’s state championship at the University of Charleston
Stadium to face Eastern Panhandle Athletic Conference rival Spring Mills, which rolled to a 49-7 win over
Hurricane.
The second-seeded Cardinals fell 17-12 to Martinsburg for their only loss of the season.
