Cave Spring evened its record at 1-1 with a quick start Friday night as the Knights upended the Martinsville Bulldogs 27-13 in a non-district football win at Dwight Bogle Stadium.
The Bulldogs came to town after a week-one 49-0 thumping by state powerhouse Brookville, and looking for revenge against a Cave Spring team that had beaten them twice in 2011, by combined scores of 91-38.
Cave Spring, a state semifinalist in 2011, was looking to regroup after losing to William Byrd 27-24 on the last play of the game in week-one.
The Knights wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the first quarter thanks to a 27-yard Daniel Seymour field goal, and 4-yard Connor Baker to Jack Woody touchdown pass that put Cave Spring up 10-0.
Martinsville responded with a Larry Perkins 27-yard TD run to cut the Knight lead to 10-7, before Seymour would split the uprights from 25-yards out to give Cave Spring the 13-7 edge.
Woody made the decisive play of the game for Cave Spring midway through the second quarter when he fielded a Martinsville punt at the 10-yard line, cut to the right and outraced a host of Bulldog tacklers before weaving his way downfield for a 90-yard touchdown.
Jon Evans gave the Knights some insurance when he returned a Bulldog fumble 10 yards for a touchdown, and a 27-7 Cave Spring lead.
Perkins would plow in from the one-yard line for Martinsville in the final seconds of the second quarter, but it would be the final score for either team as the Cave Spring defense rose to the occasion in the second half.
“This feels better than last week,” Cave Spring head coach Tim Fulton told his squad at midfield after the game. “Everyone of you guys played a role tonight,” Fulton added. “I’m really proud of how each of you fought.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Knights. They travel to 0-2 Northside tonight, for what will undoubtably be an angry Viking team, unaccustomed to back-to-back losses to start the season.
