Midway pulls off upset
By BROWNIE ROSE/Roane Newspapers
Roanecounty.com
Turnovers always play a big role in who wins and who loses games and that was definitely the case Friday night, as the Midway Green Waves forced 10 turnovers (6 interceptions, 4 fumbles) in cruising to a 36-14 victory at Cosby in the opening round of the TSSAA Class A playoffs.
“Cosby’s offense is explosive, but our defense really stepped it up tonight,” Midway head coach Craig Moser said after the game. “We gave up only one offensive touchdown and the 10 turnovers really were just incredible. It was really a show of how hard the players and defensive coordinator Adam Houston have worked to correct some of the things that we weren’t doing well early in the year.
“The only thing we didn’t do too well was take advantage of the early turnovers Cosby gave us.”
The Eagles (9-2) gave up three interceptions and four fumbles in the first half and yet the Green Waves led only 16-8 at halftime.
Cosby even managed to muff the coin toss.
They won the toss, but instead of deferring to the second half, they chose to kickoff. The referee could be seen discussing this with the Eagle captains several times, but to no avail. With the decision, they had to kickoff the second half also when it was Midway’s turn to decide if they wanted to receive or kick.
The Green Waves further went on to shock the Eagles when Eric Stansbury almost broke the kick for a TD. He was finally caught at the Cosby 47 where on the first Midway play, Ray Robinson gobbled up the rest of the yards for the touchdown.
Only 16 seconds had elapsed when Robinson blasted in with the two-point conversion to put the Green Waves up 8-0.
Cosby’s first four possessions ended with mistakes. Their first drive ended on downs at the Midway 35 then Stansbury ended the Eagles’ second drive with an interception. Drive No. 3 ended with a David Langley fumble recovery while Seth Lyle picked off a pass to end possession No. 4.
Midway, however, couldn’t capitalize on all the miscues and then a Green Wave mistake led to Cosby’s first touchdown of the night. On third-and 13 inside Eagle territory, Cosby’s Josh freeman intercepted a Lyle pass and returned it 61 yards for a score.
Kelvin Rone then connected with Cody Lowe for the conversion that tied the score at 8-8 with 10:38 to play in the second quarter.
Midway then had to dodge a bullet. After a three-and-out on offense, Cosby blocked a punt and took over at the Midway 27.
After a 15-yard run to the 12, Midway’s defense stiffened. A holding penalty and a sack of Rone backed the Eagles back to the 30 then Rone was picked off by Harley Davidson at the goal line and he retuned the pick to the 37.
Two plays later, Robinson broke through the line and rolled 54 yards for the touchdown. Robinson added the two-point conversion for a 16-8 lead with five minutes left in the second quarter.
The rest of the half would see three more Cosby fumbles while Midway had one drive end with a fumble and another drive end on downs at the Cosby 19.
The third quarter started with Midway punting twice and Cosby once before the Eagles’ second drive of the third period ended with another turnover.
This time, Rone was picked off by Stansbury, who returned the pick 50 yards for a touchdown, but a holding penalty took the points off the board.
This is when Midway’s offense finally settled down and went to work.
Starting from the Cosby 36, Midway used 10 runs and one pass before Robinson crashed in from the four with his third touchdown of the evening.
Lyle then ran in the conversion to up the lead to 24-8 with 4:23 left in the third.
Midway had a chance to deliver the knockout blow on their next possession. Following a Cosby punt and 25-yard return by Stansbury, Midway had the ball at the Cosby 30, but they failed to pick up a first down.
With the door still cracked, Cosby responded with a six-play scoring drive that ended with an 18-yard pass from Rone to Lowe.
Rone, however, was stopped short on the two-point try as Midway led 24-14 with 7:40 left in the fourth quarter.
Cosby tried a short kick off, but Stansbury grabbed the ball and returned it to the Eagle 43. Midway, however, couldn’t get anything going and punted the ball dead at the two.
Cosby punted four plays later and that kick went out of bounds at the 25. The Eagles also picked up a personal foul on the punt to give the Green Waves a first-and-goal at the 10.
Davidson put the game away two plays later with a six-yard touchdown run to give the Green Waves a 30-14 lead with 3:02 left to play.
Midway’s PAT was no good.
Cosby returned the ball to the Midway 31 on the ensuing kickoff, but it would not matter as Lyle picked off Rone again two plays later to put to rest any thought of a fantastic finish for the Eagles.
Lyle scored three plays later on a 62-yard yard, as Midway had a 36-14 lead with 1:32 left in the game.
Midway’s Will Poe would come up with turnover No. 10 to put the finishing touches on the victory.
Midway out gained the Eagles 326-146 on the night with most of Midway’s yards came on the ground (307 yards rushing).
Robinson was the leading rusher with 27 carries for 193 yards. Lyle finished with 52 yards on 16 carries.
Stansbury and Lyle had two interceptions each to lead the Midway defense while Davidson and Poe also had an interception.
Langley, Daniel Chinn, T.J. Ogle and Matt Oliver recovered fumbles while Michael Roberts, Austin Chinn, Dayne Britt and Robinson collected sacks for the Green Waves.
The win sets up a unique situation for the Green Waves. Two years ago, Midway won the Region 2-A regular season title, but lost to Coalfield in the second round of the playoffs.
Friday night, the roles will be reversed when the Green Waves travel to Coalfield to take on the Region 2-A champs.
Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.