Parkersburg South's James Lattea tries to break free from the tackle of Cabell Midland's Logan Shull during the Patriots 28-7 senior night victory Friday inside Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — Sophomore Asa Yost scored the first two touchdowns of the game here Friday on senior night and freshman quarterback Asher Prunty had a more than successful debut as Parkersburg South knocked off Cabell Midland, 28-7, at Erickson All-Sports Facility.

The 3-7 Patriots of first-year boss Larry Thompson entered the fray ranked No. 15 in quad-A while the No. 19 Knights concluded the campaign at 1-9.

Patriot seniors Collin Hayes, Brody Nesselrotte and Dedrick Riggs each played pivotal roles in holding the Knights out of the end zone until 7:42 remaining when Brody Mabry grabbed a 4-yard fade from Logan Shull. Hayes recovered two fumbles, Nesselrotte pounced on one and Riggs had an interception.

Yost carried 16 times for a game-high 125 yards while Prunty completed 8 of 17 for 170 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was intercepted in the first half by Turner Bailey, who paced the CM ground attack with 16 totes for 49 stripes.

“We were thin. We were thin, thin,” admitted coach Thompson. “I know some kids that probably no one has heard of scored for us tonight, which is amazing to see. That’s exactly the message I’ve been delivering since I’ve stepped foot here: is next man up mentality.

Parkersburg South freshman quarterback Asher Prunty runs for yardage during the Patriots' 28-7 senior night victory Friday versus Cabell Midland at Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“It doesn’t matter who it is, what grade you’re in dude, we’re a 4A program. We have to roll with whomever. That came to fruition. Shoutout to Cabell Midland. They played a hard game. That’s a really, really strong and powerful football team. Our kids, man, they just battled.”

Knight quarterback Cam Wallace didn’t get the snap on the opening series of the game as a fourth-and-1 play from the Patriot 45 led to Hayes’ first recovery.

The hosts opted to go for it facing a fourth-and-11 at the CM 44 and Prunty hooked up with Devon Andrews for a 24-yard completion to get into the red zone. Following an illegal procedure penalty, which moved the ball back to the 25, Yost ran toward the Cabell Midland sideline and appeared as though he would go down, but he somehow managed to elude three would-be tacklers and another trio had a shot at him, but he was able to tightrope the sideline and put the Patriots ahead for good.

What appeared to be a three-and-out on the Knights’ next possession turned into disaster when punter Andrew LaFon couldn’t handle the long snap and he was forced to take off running, but was stopped after a gain of 6 yards.

After a Prunty run netted 9 yards, Yost broke through the CM defense and bolted 17 yards to paydirt. It was 14-0 PSHS with 4:36 left in the first following another James Thompson extra point.

Parkersburg South's Dedrick Riggs makes a tackle on Cabell Midland's Eli Thompson as teammates Asa Yost (20) and Charles Williams (77) converge during the Patriots' 28-7 senior night victory Friday at Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Trying to add more points before the half, Derek Sandy took a fourth-and-2 carry at the Knight 32, but was stopped for a gain of a yard by Bailey. However, the Knights’ drive was thwarted on fourth down when Kamero Jackson sacked Shull, who rushed 17 times for 32 yards and completed 6 of 11 attempts for 89 yards with Eli Thompson (5-85) doing most of the damage.

“Last week our starter (Kinzyn Lutchmansingh) got banged up a little bit and I know our backup Collin came in and he hadn’t had many reps all year with his ankle injury,” said coach Thompson. “We had a collective decision and we thought the freshman was going to be able to lead us. We’re very young. We have a lot to look forward to and a lot to build on in the future.

“All season long, obviously, we had two senior quarterbacks and we wanted to see who was going to lead and we got to this point. Shoutout to those two seniors for teaching this young man all year. They didn’t hate on him. They picked him up and gave him a lot of confidence and he came out here and he balled out.”

Parkersburg South, which will continue its season next week on the road, got a first down to open the third when Prunty hooked up with James Lattea for a 24-yard completion. One play later, Prunty fired a pass along the line of scrimmage to Andrews, who was able to elude several Knights as he bolted all the way down the Patriot sideline for a 21-0 advantage.

Cabell Midland fell behind 28-0 with 9:17 remaining when Josiah Swiger had a 31-yard scoring grab to convert a fourth-and-14.

Parkersburg South's Collin Hayes (9) nearly intercepts a pass intended for Cabell Midland's Caleb Kitchen as teammates James Lattea (11) and Derek Sandy (2) converge during the Patriots' 28-7 senior night win Friday at Erickson All-Sports Facility. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Although the Patriots will have numerous starters unavailable for their playoff game, coach Thompson is more than happy to be part of the postseason.

“We’re going to go out there and our kids are going to play their a- off. We’re going to have fun doing it and we got a feeling we’re going to end up in Martinsburg, but we’re going to go out there and play Dave Walker’s ballclub as best as we can,” said the coach.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com