By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
MAIDEN – All that separated visiting Bandys and Maiden on Friday night at the half of their 65th all-time meeting in high school football was about 15 yards.
The Blue Devils had gained 189 yards, the Trojans had 174, and each team had scored twice and they were tied.
MAIDEN 35
BANDYS 14
But less than 20 seconds into the second half, that all changed – thanks to Keygan Mayfield – and Maiden gained the momentum it needed to defeat the Trojans 35-21 and remain unbeaten.
Mayfield fielded the opening second-half kickoff at his 5 and sprinted 95 yards for a TD, and a PAT by Casey Ly put the Blue Devils ahead to stay 21-14.
It was the first punt or kickoff return for a score for Maiden (5-0, 1-0 South Fork 2A) this season and the first special teams TD for Mayfield in a Blue Devils uniform.
Mayfield played last season at Davidson Day, and as the season began the extent of his Maiden scoring prior to this season was four TD passes in a 41-0 win at Bandys in 2015 when he was pressed into service at quarterback.
About four minutes after the long kickoff return on Friday night, running back Kentrell Williams broke a 52-yard for a TD and Ly converted another PAT for a 28-14 Maiden lead with seven minutes, 47 seconds left in the third quarter.
DID YOU KNOW?
Keygan Mayfield’s momentum-swinging kickoff return for a TD on Friday night was the first return TD in a Bandys versus Maiden game since 2006, when the Trojans won 41-18 at Maiden behind an 83-yard kickoff return TD by Justin McCombs.
McCombs had three long TDs in that win, also catching scoring passes of 49 and 65 yards.
“We told them (the Blue Devils) all week that special teams were going to be crucial,” Maiden head coach Will Byrne said. “They (Bandys) had made onside kicks, faked punts (in last year’s game), so we worked on that all week.
“That (Mayfield’s return TD) just gave us a spark… it knocked a little wind out of their (Bandys’) sails. That definitely gave us a boost.”
Maiden had an early 14-0 lead, on a 9-yard TD run by Williams (20 carries for 198 yards) and a 26-yard TD pass from Mayfield to Dylan Abernathy.
The Blue Devils were up 14-0 through one quarter, but the Trojans (2-3, 0-1) scored twice in a span of about two minutes late in the second quarter to tie it.
With 2:35 to go in the half, running back Ethan Howard (28 carries, 141 yards) scored on a 5-yard run that closed a 78-yard drive. The TD run came a play after quarterback Ja’Tay Culliver, scrambling right before throwing left, hit Elijah Clark for a 28-yard gain.
After forcing the Blue Devils to punt, Bandys had possession at its 49 and scored three plays later on an 11-yard run by Howard, which came a play after Culliver (11 carries for 102 yards) ran for 37 yards and a first down.
A play just after Mayfield had broken the kickoff return for a go-ahead score ended up hurting the Trojans. Howard, on a run from the Maiden 44, got up the right sideline and scored. But a penalty (blindside block) wiped out that score and netted Howard only a gain of 2 yards.
“We know Howard is a great running back,” Byrne said. “We stressed that you had to hit him low.”
Instead of scoring, Bandys ended up punting. Five plays later, Williams burst 52 yards up the right sideline for a score and Maiden led 28-14.
“It was great blocking by the o-line,” Williams said postgame. “I love’em.”
Bandys pulled within 28-21 with 7:06 to play when Culliver threw 10 yards to DaShawn Gibbs. The Trojans tried an onside kick but the Blue Devils handled it and quickly scored to widen the margin to 14 points again.
After Williams went 22 yards, Mayfield broke a 35-yard run – breaking one tackle before finding himself virtually untouched – and scored.
Bandys lost a fumble on its next possession, and Maiden ate up about four minutes of clock before the Trojans got the ball back.
After Bandys threw an incomplete fourth-down pass that gave the Blue Devils possession, Mayfield took a knee and Maiden increased it series lead to 49-13-3.
William’s 198 yards were a season-high – he has 510 of his unofficial 615 over the last three games – and Maiden won despite gaining fewer than 400 yards for the first time this season.
The Blue Devils outgained the Trojans 386-330.
Williams said what he has been doing of late is the same thing he’s been doing in practice.
“At practice every day, we execute,” he said. “And at game time, it’s there.”
Maiden plays next Friday night at 7:30 p.m., battling West Lincoln on the road in a South Fork 2A game.
Bandys meets Newton-Conover at Bandys next Friday night in a league game, also at 7:30 p.m.
Maiden has won its last nine games at West Lincoln, and the Rebels have beaten the Blue Devils once at home since the 1980 season – 8-6 in 1985 via a short-yard TD run and two-point conversion run by Kip Childers.