Cummings football goes beyond its superstar in Round 2 playoff win over Midway

But for Cummings to keep its run going, it will have to rely on more than Paylor, and on Thursday it did just that. The Cavaliers dominated on both sides of the ball for all four quarters, earning a 42-7 win and a third-round playoff date with 2-A East No. 1 seed Princeton.

“It’s great to know that we’re getting Cavs Nation back,” Paylor said. “To know that we can contribute a bit to that feels great.”

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In the postgame huddle, Cummings coach David Grimm made sure to note just how difficult next Friday’s matchup will be against Princeton (11-1), which has outscored its opponents 135-34 in the opening two rounds of the playoffs.

Despite the challenges that lie ahead, Grimm said he’s noticed one key factor to the Cavaliers (8-3) that has propelled them to this point: Their closeness.

“They say all the time that it’s a brotherhood and it really is,” he said. “They pick each other up when they need to pick each other up, they’ve got each other’s backs. As far as closeness, they’re a close team.”

In the second quarter, defensive tackle Jamari Jones went down on the field. When the trainers picked him up to walk him to the sideline, four Cavaliers ran out and put their arms around him.

Sophomore quarterback Johnniyus Sharpe said moments like that display just how much chemistry Cummings has.

“Everybody’s so close, it’s really a brotherhood," he said. "When you see somebody go down, you don’t want to let your brother down, you’ve got to do it for him on the next play.”

It had been 11 years since the Cavaliers earned a third-round playoff berth; a year ago, Cummings fell eight points short of that goal.

Paylor said that games like Thursday point to brighter days ahead — like those when the Cavaliers won five state championships in an 18-year span.

“It’s going to be crazy, to know that we’re going to the third round for the first time since 2011,” Paylor said. “I know school is going to be wicked. But we’re going to really lock in.”

Sharpe, in his first year under center for the Cavaliers, said the formula for continued success is simple: take things one week at a time.

“The coaches just say, ‘You go 1-0 every week,’ and that’s what I go by as well,” he said. “Just going 1-0 every week and buying in. Really, that’s it.”

This article originally appeared on Times-News: Cummings football goes beyond its superstar in Round 2 playoff win over Midway