The Insider - vol 20 #3 November 2017

INSIDER

the

November 2017

www.HerdInsider.com

NOWHERE TO

HIDE

Surprise! Marshall is going bowling after a stellar first half of the 2017 season. Davon Durant (above) and the defense have been stifling opponents’ offenses all season.

FAIRLAND DRAGONS:

Coach Melvin Cunningham and the Fairland Dragons are seeking consistent wins.

UP FRONT

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ne of the pleasant experiences through the first seven games of the 2017 Marshall Football season has been seeing the return of what I call the “Herd Road Crew”.

Marshall played road games at NC State, Cincinnati, Charlotte and Middle Tennessee in the first half of the season and there were never fewer than an estimated 300 folks wearing the Marshall kelly green in the stands.

The numbers of Marshall fans in the stands were literally in the thousands at the NC State and Cincinnati games and those fans made their presence known vocally and physically.

The large number of travelling Herd fans resmbles the massive caravans who made the trips to games during Marshall’s days in the Mid-American Conference.

-----------arshall’s Athletic Department has always given “firstclass treatment” to its football team when it comes to travel and accommodations for road games. This year, the Herd has a new flying partner in Sun Country Airlines.

Marshall is enjoying service this fall on comfy Boeing 737 jets flown by the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based air carrier. For years, the Herd’s travel needs were provided by US Airways and, later, American Airlines, but this year’s move to Sun Country was forced due to American’s decision to end sports charter service.

Thanks to hard work by many folks in the Marshall Athletic Department, including Associate Athletics Director for Ad-

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VOLUME 20 NO. 3

ministration and Business David Steele and Assistant Athletic Director for Football Operations Mark Gale.

-----------arshall’s 6-1 start in football has been the big story in this fall, but it hasn’t been the only story. Not to be lost has been the success of Marshall’s women golfers.

Coach Brooke Burkammer’s squad took part in five fall tournaments and won two of them, coming in first in the Rosann Schwartz Invitational hosted by Youngstown State University and the Shirley Spork Invitational hosted by Eastern Michigan University.

The Herd finished second in the Starmount Forest Fall Classic in Greensboro, NC. Along the way, Junior Ylva Forslund of Vreta Kloster, Sweden was named Conference USA Women’s Golfer of the Week on September 13th after finishing second individually in the Shirley Spork Invitational.

-----------arshall’s Athletic Department is now in the television business. Earlier this fall, the department announced the creation of “Herd Vision”, a service with both free and pay-per-view broadcasts of Marshall Athletic events. To create a quality product, the athletics department has added personnel and video equipment to deal specifically with Herd Vision and has built a “state-of-the-art” video control room in the basement of the Cam Henderson Center which will be the “nerve center” of the operation.

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WHAT WE’VE GOT

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VOLUME 20 No. 3

UP FRONT

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UP FRONT

Contributing writer Bill Cornwell shares some of his experiences as a member of the traveling party for Marshall football. He’s also the PA voice at The Joan.

This page: With Marshall football’s surprising start to the 2017 season, the West Virginia Building in downtown Huntington was appropriately lit in green and white in October.

On the cover: Marshall’s Davon Durant and the defense have put the clamps on opponents thus far in the 2017 season, including ODU quarterback Steven Williams Jr.

FAIRLAND

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CONSISTENCY

Fairland (OH) HighSchool football coach Melvin Cunningham has brought one thing from his Marshall days: consistency in winning.

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HITTING TARGETS A surprise start to the 2017 season has Marshall already bowl-eligible in October. The offense, defense, and special teams have played well .

cover and contents photos by Greg Perry/The Insider Magazine 555 Fifth Avenue Huntington, WV 25701 (304) 523-8401

General Manager Mike Kirtner Contributor Bill Cornwell

Creative Director Greg Perry Contributor James E. Casto

Associate GM Reeves Kirtner First Subscriber Geoff Sheils

Writer Dave Walsh Printing Printograph, Inc.

Web Operations Alex Hackney All contents ©2017 Kindred Communications

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HIGH SCHOOL

FOOTBALL

Consistentcy

To The Core

Fairland (OH) High School coach Melvin Cunningham is looking to instill in his Dragon team the one thing he learned as an All-American at Marshall University: consistency in winning.

Quarterback Joel Lambiotte (8) looked downfield during the first half of the Dragons’ game at Coal Grove in late October.

photographs by Greg Perry/ THE INSIDER Magazine staff

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Fairland (OH) coach Melvin Cunningham learned consistency as an All-American at Marshall, and is working to instill it in the Dragons program.

oach Melvin Cunningham enjoys having his Fairland High football team in title and playoff conversations for a change.

That kind of banter has been missing since 2013, when the Dragons won the Ohio Valley Conference championship and made the Ohio playoffs. Cunningham’s first two Fairland teams went 0-10 and 3-7. The 2017 edition found itself in OVC title and Ohio Division V playoff conversation the last week of the regular season.

Coal Grove and Fairland met on Oct. 20 with first place in the league at stake. Coal Grove (8-1 overall, 6-0 league) rallied in the second half to win 29-19. The Dragons dropped to 5-4 overall, 5-1 in the league going into the regular-season finale against Chesapeake at home. story by Dave Walsh A win would would likely THE INSIDER writer send them into the postseason. Should Coal Grove lose at Rock Hill, Fairland and the Hornets would share the league crown.

Cunningham sees Fairland slowly matching the trademark that made Marshall University a success when he played defensive back for the Thundering Herd from 1993-96 and earned I-AA All-American honors. Marshall won the I-AA national championship in 1996.

“The greatest thing I learned in my time at Marshall is we were consistent,” Cunningham said. “We won every year.

Consistency is what we’re looking for. Are we having a good season? Yes. If we finish things out, will it be a great year? Yes. The next year, the year after and the year after. That’s what determines our success as a staff.

“Just to get here was not hard. Let’s be honest. I go into the locker room (2015) and see young kids. They’re seniors and juniors now and they’re the players I knew they’d be. I feel we can play with everyone on our schedule this year. Being relevant

is what we expect. We still have more left to give. We have to prove ourselves on Friday nights.”

Fairland started 0-2 with losses to unbeatens Portsmouth West and Wheelersburg followed by a loss to Waverly in Week 4. Wheelersburg and West are the top two teams in Division V, Region 19.

Fairland’s first glimmer of hope came in Week 3 with a thrilling 27-21 win at OVC power Ironton for that school’s first league defeat in two-plus seasons and first loss to a Lawrence County team since South Point beat the Fighting Tigers in 1961.

The winning TD came on a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game. The Dragons took a four-game winning streak into the Coal Grove contest after rolling past Portsmouth, 62-34, on Oct. 13.

Cunningham would like nothing more than to see the green and white banner on the fence outside the locker room get a makeover with the addition of more achievements. Fairland has won the OVC eight times and been to the postseason three.

“That banner’s been here since I’ve been here,” Cunningham said. “I want our school to spend money. Spending money means we’re changing those dates. It’s amazing. We control our destiny. Being relevant at this time comes from the attitude of this team. I told the coaches in our (Sunday) meeting that we’ve been driving the same hill for three years and it feels so much easier to drive the hill now. It’s not hard to motivate guys when they have an opportunity like this. I want the opportunity to win that first playoff game. Those are things you can’t take away someone. We understand the challenges before us. If we’re relevant, we get everyone’s best shot. We have to prepare for that.”

Fairland’s main threats are running back/defensive back Keedrick Cunningham, quarterback Joel Lambiotte, fullback/ linebacker Chase Fisher, wide outs Ty Wilcoxon (transfer from Chesapeake), Reilly Sowards and a host of big men up front. continued on page 8

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Fairland receiver Reilly Sowards went up high over two Coal Grove defenders in the first half for this big play in the matchup betweeen the two teams at Coal Grove in late October. photo by Greg Perry/The Insider staff

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8 / THE INSIDER / November 2017 Keedrick Cunningham is already over 1,000 yards rushing for the second straight year.

Despite a 3-17 mark the first two years, coach Melvin Cunningham never lost faith. Wherever he’s been coach, he’s utilized the same plan to turn the corner.

“Just stay the course. We have a philosophy. Winning is the by product of our philosophy,” Cunningham said. “As long as there’s a purpose to do the things you do, you know it will all work out in the end. We as a staff were doing the things we were supposed to do. Sooner or later this day would come. There was no panic.

culture. Wherever you go there’s a culture in place and the staff and I felt that was not the culture we wanted. We started from the bottom and tried to insert the direction we wanted to take.”

In building a program, a signature win or two helps. FairKeedrick Cunningham (1) is coach Melvin Cunningham’s son and a force land got that with the victory over Ironton, a force in Ohio footat tailback and receiver for the Fairland Dragons. ball for many years. Lambiotte found Reilly Sowards all alone “We’ve gotten better, more disciplined as we get older. in the end zone for a 28-yard Hail Mary TD with 3.6 seconds left.

We’re not ad libbing routes. We run to the right depth. It’s kind of like having a fruit tree. Sometimes you have to cut it back for it to be able to grow ripe fruit, for the harvest to get bigger. People don’t understand that. Sometimes what appears bad really isn’t. It appears that way because we had to trim it back. Are we where we want to be? No. We’re playing in the right direction to get to where we want to be.”

Since his arrival, Cunningham has had a presence in youth football and middle school. There’s even flag football at the high school now. The middle school team went unbeaten and met Chesapeake for the OVC title.

“We want to build from the ground up,” Cunningham said. “From the coaching aspect, everyone Hunter Morrison and the Dragon defense put up a solid fight against from youth to high school has been on board and rival Coal Grove in late October. done a good job. I’m down in midgets two, three days a week.

I have high school coaches work with them. It’s been that way Cunningham and all visitors to Tanks Memorial Stadium see the since I’ve been here. The middle school’s doing a great job. pictures of past successful Ironton teams when they arrive at the Some (players) are coming our way. We have a great group of stadium. Emphasis on past. eighth graders. I look forward to the weight room days to get “Absolutely a signature win,” Cunningham said. “Anytime them stronger so they can be ready to assist us. you beat Ironton it’s amazing. The tradition they have. I said “We start at the foundation. We felt we had to change the continued on page 20

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COLLEGE

FOOTBALL

Hitting All The Targets Quarterback Chase Litton and his band of receivers and running backs became bowl eligible in the month of October, a far cry from where they were just one year ago.

Chase Litton eyed receiver Marcel Williams downfield during The Herd’s win over Old Dominion University in October. photographs by Greg Perry/ THE INSIDER Magazine staff

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Running back Tyler King impressed in the month of October, even getting the dance team to jump high on his touchdown run against ODU.

hen sizing up Marshall University football for For now. The offensive line had allowed just three sacks, 2017, Athlon Sports said the Thundering Herd had tops in C-USA, through seven games at the end of October. As a many issues to address if it hoped to bounce back team, the Herd is number three in the league in time of possesfrom a disastrous 3-9 campaign in 2016. sion.

Those issues pertained greatly to personnel. The offensive At wide receiver –a spot once manned by players named line would have three new starters. UncertainRandy Moss, Troy Brown and Mike Barber– anstory by Dave Walsh ty at wide receiver. The kicking game had to other name has emerged. Miami transfer Tyre THE INSIDER writer resurface. And the defense had to do a 180-deBrady has been giving defenses fits from the gree turn after allowing 35.3 points per game a first game on. Spurred on by a record-setting year ago. performance against North Carolina State, Brady is the number Well, guess what? All those clouds hanging over the prothree receiver in C-USA with 38 catches for 593 yards and six gram prior to the season have disappeared. scores at the time of publication (late October). The junior is continued on page 15

Players from the Sonny Randle era gathered at the ODU game to celebrate the life of the beloved coach, who passed away earlier this year.

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All Alone In The End Zone…

Marshall football’s Chris Jackson found himself all alone in the end zone after returning an interception for a touchdown against ODU. photo by Greg Perry/The Insider staff

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now on the watch list for the 2017 Biletnikoff Award, an honor that goes to the nation’s most outstanding receiver.

Kaare Vedvik has to be the most complete kicker in the game as he handles three assignments well. He’s number one in the league in punting; the majority of his kickoffs sail into the end zone meaning opponents start at the 25; and he’s not missed an extra point. He wants to pick up the field goal numbers (4-for-8). Don’t forget: Keion Davis is the league’s number one kickoff returner, as well.

The defense that gave up 60 or more points twice last season has become quite stingy just one year later. The Herd is tops in the league in scoring defense (14.3), number two in total defense (314.9) and third in sacks (22).

That clarifies how Marshall took a 6-1 overall mark and 3-0 Conference USA record into its Oct. 27 home game against FIU. Marshall shared the East Division lead with FAU, led by well known rookie head coach Lane Kiffin. Preseason No. 1 Western Kentucky remains in the mix. The MTSU Blue Raiders, picked to finish No. 2 in the East, will have to finish strong just to be bowl eligible.

“When you’re a young team, and you have a bunch of players who are invested as much as these kids are, you have to get better every week,” Marshall coach Doc Holliday said prior to the Middle Tennessee game. “That’s what great teams do, they continue to get better every week. Up to this point, we’ve done

that, and we’ve got to continue to do that.”

One other sore spot –success on the road– has taken a turn for the better. Marshall is 3-1 away from Joan C. Edwards Stadium in 2017 after the 38-10 win at Middle Tennessee made the Herd the first league team to become bowl eligible. This is where we remind you that the road readout for last season was 0-5. Marshall limited Middle Tennessee to 273 total yards and recorded six sacks.

“I’ve always felt anytime you go on the road you have to be an extremely tough football team. I think we’re a tougher football team,” Holliday said. “We have a bunch of guys who are extremely tough-minded football players, and I think there’s the leadership part of it. Anytime you go on the road, you have to have that.”

On defense, Marshall allowed three points in each of its first two C-USA wins, becoming the first school in the league’s 22-year football history to not allow a touchdown in the first two conference games of a season.

“As a team, I feel like the defense is ridiculous,” senior safety C.J. Reavis said after the Herd’s 35-3 win over Old Dominion on homecoming. “Our front seven is outstanding and the secondary continues to improve. We just continue to make plays.”

Safety Malik Gant, the Herd’s number two tackler, agreed with Reavis. He came to Marshall as a walk-on in 2015 and played mostly on special teams last season. Holliday rewarded continued on page 18

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Keedrick Cunningham Fairland (OH) High School Football/Basketball The adage “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” rings true at Fairland High School this fall as the Dragons’ football team –coached by former Marshall football great Melvin Cunningham– is being led by his son, Keedrick.

Thanks to a lot of big plays from the 6-1, 194-pound senior running back, the Dragons have gone from perennial also-rans in the Ohio Valley Conference to the league’s 2017 surprise team.

Through seven games, Cunningham had recorded nearly 850 yards while scoring six touchdowns as Fairland began the OVC schedule with a 3-0 record. Cunningham started the season averaging over nine yards per carry while recording six touchdowns.

He was also a weapon as a receiver and on special teams. Cunningham began the season with 31 catches for 342 yards and two touchdowns, averaging eleven yards per catch. His danger to opponents continued as a kick returner as he recorded nearly 15-hundred yards and two touchdowns on returns in the first seven games.

Keedrick isn’t only an offensive weapon, as he’s scored two touchdowns from his safety position.

The Dragons’ eighth game was a homecoming contest in Proctorville against OVC rival Portsmouth and Keedrick celebrated his final homecoming in style, scoring five touchdowns against the Spartans on runs of 25, 65, 3, 9 and 52 yards.

Cunningham is also a member of Fairland’s outstanding basketball team, which is expected to challenge for an Ohio state title this season.

He’s active off the field and court, serving as Fairland’s senior class vice president and taking part in several groups, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Keedrick is getting plenty of attention from Division 1 and Division 2 colleges, including his dad’s alma mater Marshall and the Herd’s Conference USA rival, Southern Miss. Other local schools that are interested in Cunningham include WV State and the University of Pikeville. ­—compiled by Bill Cornwell, The Insider contributing writer

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Gant with a scholarship after spring practice.

“The defense has confidence what the coaches want us to accomplish,” Gant said. “We win with preparation on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. We know what to do and do it.”

“We did everything we were coached,” Artis Johnson said after the Middle Tennessee game.

Marshall’s defense has not allowed a first-quarter TD going into the FIU game. That’s seven games in a row.

Old Dominion got inside the Marshall 10 twice in the first period, but only came away with three points. There’s no panic in the red zone, no panic when Herd players see something they’re not familiar with.

“We’re going to be faced with adversity,” Gant said. “The more adversity, the more calm we show. We all do our assignments. We see formations, get a feel for them, then get comfortable. When we see things we didn’t go over, we adjust.”

Vedvik has twice been C-USA Special Teams Player of the Week. He got the second honor after the Old Dominion win as he launched his first punt from out of the end zone 92 yards into the end zone at the opposite end of the field. It was the longest punt in FBS history in 45 years. Hall of Fame punter and Southern Miss graduate Ray Guy boomed one 93 yards in 1972.

Vedvik’s 45.2 yard average is tops in the league. He has recorded 11 punts of 50-plus yards, had 13 downed inside the 20 and 12 result in a fair catch. The Herd’s 41.3 net average topped the league, too.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to send it from one end zone to the other. It’s a punter’s dream. Every time, you just try to hit

your best ball,” Vedvik said. “This one went over his head and had a nice tailwind. The ball rolled down to the other goal line, so you can’t ask for anything better than that.

“I don’t look at it as three separate jobs, I look at it as one job. I’m the kicker. I just kick the ball. I enjoy it a lot. It gives me a little more playing time.”

Davis had two kickoff returns for TDs in the season-opening win over Miami (Ohio). Team since are careful on kicks, often angling them to one side. Hyleck Foster handles punt returns.

“Unfortunately, we can’t get them to kick the ball to us,” Holliday said. “They kick the ball to our left and we made a couple adjustments there.”

Herd quarterback Chase Litton tossed two TD passes to Brady in the win over ODU to extend his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 27 games (second-longest active streak in the FBS). However, the streak came to an end at Middle Tennessee as the Herd had four rushing touchdowns and its fifth on a pass interception return. Litton’s totals are 13 TD passes and three picks. While one streak ended, another continued. Litton has gone 136 consecutive passes without an interception, which tied him with former MU great Rakeem Cato for the longest streak since Holliday took over as head coach. He has passed Tony Petersen in the record book for career passing yards with 6,767. Petersen, now an assistant coach at East Carolina, had 6,501.

The Biletnikoff Award is given annually by the Tallahassee Quarterback Club Foundation. Brady got on that radar in game two when he caught 11 passes for 248 yards against N.C. State in Raleigh. The yardage total is a Carter-Finley Stadium record. continued on page 19

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The 2017 Biletnikoff Award winner will be presented live on December 7 on The Home Depot College Football Awards Show.

The 10 semifinalists will be named November 13 and three finalists determined by another vote on November 21.

“You just have to find ways to help out your team, whether it’s blocking, taking a double team so we have a one-on-one matchup somewhere else, that’s what it is,” Brady said.

Week after week, Holliday keeps saluting the job offensive line coach Alex Mirabal does with his unit.

“I’m proud of the way those guys have played,” Holliday said.

“Alex has done a tremendous job with all three of those freshmen, Tarik Adams, (Will) Ulmer and (Alex) Mollette. The development of young players is evident with what you’ve seen. There are a lot continued on page 21

Wide receiver Tyre Brady has scored touchdowns against solid opponents. The Miami transfer lit up NC State, and here, Old Dominion.

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let’s play those guys in the uniforms (now). They’re still a great team but similar to what we are. They play the same 15-16 guys.

When you start playing with 15-16 guys, I’m confident with the 15, 16, 17 guys we have ready to play now. We’ve added more depth.

“At Minford (jamboree game) I wrote on the board, ‘you’re nobody until you go through something that somebody says you can’t do.’ They said we couldn’t beat West. We didn’t. They said we couldn’t beat Wheelersburg. We didn’t. They said we couldn’t beat Ironton. We did. It’s kind of like that snowball rolling downhill. You get momentum and we’ve been riding it ever since.”

Keedrick is the coach’s son who produces on both sides of

GO HERD!

the ball. And while he enjoys the game and playing for his dad, he just has to remember to call him coach, not dad at practice.

“There’s no calling him dad. At my first practice, I did and I ran the whole practice,” he said. “I do get extra coaching at home. I’m doing what I can to help benefit this team. The turnaround’s been amazing.”

“I listen to all these things,” coach Cunningham said. “He has the ability and does big things for us,” the proud coach said.

“Chase Fisher on the defensive side. Joel’s a talent. Ty Wilcoxon.

They’re getting overlooked because of where we are. It’s sad.”

“We get better each week,” Fisher summed up. “We’re making plays on both sides of the ball. Three weeks left and we’re still relevant. We want that to be the trademark of this program.”

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of young and new players who have developed and continue to grow.

“With all the work the three young freshmen have done, I fail to mention Levi Brown and how good he has been at center.

There’s a reason those three young kids have done well. Levi is an all-conference player, I think, at center.”

Through six games, only one Marshall opponent had a winning record. NC State is 6-1 overall and ranked 16th nationally.

Tyler King, the Herd’s number two rusher, said the team is ready for remaining challenges.

“We’re a complete team. Not once have I seen anyone face adversity and turn away from it. That’s a plus on our end,” he said.

Litton put it another way.

“We haven’t arrived yet,” he said.

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