ONA, W.Va. — For the second time in eight years, Cabell Midland won thirteen games last fall. A perfect season however was denied by Martinsburg in the Class AAA final. Head coach Luke Salmons is well aware that last year’s success won’t by them a single first down in September.
“Of course it is good. But at the same time, it doesn’t mean anything now,” Salmons said. “It is all about getting better. Every team wants to beat you. It is always a huge challenge every year for us. Nothing really changes.”
The Knights fought through a number of injuries to their running backs last season and many of those guys return like Isaiah Vaughn, Jackson Fetty and Jaydyn Johnson. The team’s leading returning rusher is fullback Jakob Caudill. He scored 15 touchdowns while rushing for 1,924 yards.
“We have always had some good fullbacks but Jakob is really exceptional. He is really tough. He plays extremely hard. He is really hard to tackle. That is what you want in that position in a triple option offense.”
The engineer of the Midland offense is now at Wake Forest. J.J. Roberts rushed for 1,497 yards last fall. A host of players could be lining up under center to replace Roberts.
“We have quarterbacks that can make plays. Fetty played there a lot last year. He’s back and he knows offense. Jaydyn Johnson is back and he knows quarterback really well. Chandler (Schmidt) can play quarterback. He hasn’t really gotten a lot of reps now, he is more of a wing. But he can play quarterback. So we will try to develop three or four kids.”
For the second consecutive year, several new linemen will work their way into the lineup. Salmons has endured transitions like this before.
“That’s how we were the year before, we only returned one kid. A lot of the kids are about 200, 210 (pounds). That’s fine. That is perfect for us, we don’t care. In an option, it doesn’t matter. You have to be able to get after people and block downfield.”
The defending Mountain State Athletic Conference champions will be tested by a challenging league schedule and non-conference games against state semifinalist Parkersburg South and state champion Martinsburg.
“Last year after Week 3 we came together. One year it is after Week 8, Week 1. Whatever it takes, there’s going to be a game that hopefully solidifies us and really gets our momentum going. It could be early, it could be later. I think if we just stay the course, we have a chance to be a good football team.”