ONA, W.Va. — It will be a familiar site for both teams, but there will be plenty of new faces.
When the Ironton Fighting Tigers meet the Cabell Midland Knights on Saturday, it will be a renewal of last season’s game held at Marshall University’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
But a lot of key faces are gone for Midland as well as Ironton.
The Fighting Tigers may have a slight edge with getting their new starters playing time. Ironton has beaten Wheelersburg 37-7 and Jackson 51-14 while Midland will be playing its first game.
West Virginia and Kentucky give teams 11 weeks to play 10 games. Midland used last week as its open date.
The first new face will come at the helm. The Knights are under the guidance of first-year head coach John Ashworth who took over for Luke Sammons who moved on to the Corbin, Ky., head coaching job.
Ashworth said not much has changed in the players’ mental makeup.
“The intensity these kids bring each day is awesome. I love being around them,” said Ashworth.
The Knights are one of the largest schools in West Virginia. The athletic association went to 4 divisions this year, Midland will be in 4A which is the largest division. Ashworth hopes the large enrollment numbers will help fill any void created by graduation.
“We’ve got some young up-and-comers that no one necessarily knows about right now but are going to contribute a lot this year,” said Ashworth.
Midland, 10-2 last season, beat Ironton 34-21, but gone from the offense is running back Curtis Jones who ran 33 times for 156 yards and 3 touchdowns in the game.
Jones is now playing for West Virginia.
Also gone is quarterback Robert Shockley who was 9-of-12 for 83 yards and ran 15 times for 51 yards and a score in that game.
Shockley threw for more than 1,500 yards and ran for more than 1,200 yards. He had a combined 32 touchdowns rushing and passing.
Hurricane junior transfer Eian Duffy (6-0, 170) is expected to take the quarterback reins.
“We’re looking for Eian to be a game manager. He does a lot of things really well,” said Ashworth.
In the backfield trying to fill the void left by 1,000-yard rusher Jones will be senior Logan Hobbs (6-0, 200) and junior Landon Taylor (6-0, 190).
A key defensive player is senior defensive back Landon Nida (5-10, 180) along with Taylor at middle linebacker.
Nida is part of the receiving corps that will include several newcomers.
The top returning linemen are all juniors and includes Caleb Parlier (6-2, 240), Brad Edans (5-11, 280), and Ben Guilliams (6-2, 275).
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Comments