Parkersburg’s Austin Jones (23) celebrates after a play during Friday’s game against Cabell Midland at Stadium Field. (Photo by Brian Cox Photography)

PARKERSBURG — After a long and grueling 12 years of constant losses to Cabell Midland, the Parkersburg High Big Reds claimed a 27-20 win over the Knights Friday night to end the losing streak and give a glimpse of hope into the future of Big Red football.

Despite the pressures of the historic losing streak and an injury to star running back Ethan Jones in the first quarter, the Big Reds’ ability to step up in the face of adversity proved to be the driving force in the win on the school’s senior night.

“This was an absolute battle tonight, and to see our seniors step up and fight really showed what this team can be about,” said Parkersburg head coach Matt Kimes. “With two games left we’ve still got a lot we want to accomplish, and I believe we can fight hard to finish hard.”

The Knights received the opening kickoff and slowly moved down field, but were thrown into instant chaos when Cabell Midland quarterback Bryson Smith threw an interception straight to Brady Thorn. However, CMHS was given a second chance at momentum when Thorn fumbled the ball while attempting to run after the takeaway, a crucial mistake that resulted in a rare 22-yard passing touchdown to Cabell Midland’s Keian Shelton to make the score 7-0 five minutes before the second quarter.

Cabell Midland’s lead wouldn’t last long, however, as a muffed punt by the Knights set up the Big Reds directly in the red zone, resulting in a 1-yard rushing touchdown by star running back Ethan Jones to tie the game 7-7 with 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Parkersburg’s Alex Greer (24) carries the ball during Friday’s game against Cabell Midland at Stadium Field. (Photo by Brian Cox Photography)

Both teams traded possessions back and forth in the second, eventually resulting in a final Parkersburg drive that proved successful after a double-reverse flea-flicker trick play gave Parkersburg quarterback Alex Greer the opportunity to rifle a 37-yard touchdown pass to tight end Austin Craven, boosting the lead to 14-7 at half.

The Big Reds received the second-half kickoff, coming out of the gate marching downfield and punching in a 16-yard Sylas Cheuvront touchdown to make the score 21-7, a score that would be short lived after Cabell Midland’s Logan Shull ripped off a 56-yard touchdown run to cut it to 21-13.

The fourth quarter began with turnovers by both teams, the first being an early fumble by Greer to give the Knights another opportunity to turn things around, and the second coming on that same drive when Cabell Midland running back Shull threw a desperation pass that was intercepted by Big Red Tytan Parsons.

Despite the turnovers that both teams traded in the fourth, two scores would come out of the chaos with a Big Red 11-yard touchdown run by Cheuvront that was answered immediately with a 42-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Shelton. Despite the efforts by the Knights, the Big Reds held off their late game comeback attempt to finish the game with a score of 27-20, moving the Big Reds to 4-4 and the Knights to 1-6.

“Anytime you win you hope you can build off of that momentum,” said Kimes. ” We’ll put a plan together and see if we can come out on top.”

Cheuvront led PHS with 119 yards on 24 carries. Greer added 80 yards on 17 rushes and was 7 for 9 passing for 100 yards.

The Knights saw Turner Bailey carry 14 times for 88 yards while Shull added 78 yards on eight attempts. Smith was 4 for 5 passing for 90 yards.

The Big Reds will travel to face Ripley next Friday at 7 p.m., while the Knights will hope to bounce back when they host Fairview next Friday at 7 p.m.