Photo by Rob Burchianti Martins Ferry running back Walkquem Cox (20) runs for an eight-yard gain against Uniontown during the first quarter of Friday night’s game at Uniontown. Cox rushed for 172 yards and three touchdowns in the Purple Riders’ 59-13 victory.

UNIONTOWN — Justin Kropka was just happy to play a game.

The Martins Ferry football coach saw his team go from a planned celebration of senior night at home against Brownsville to a possible game with Windber to, finally, a road game at Uniontown the past week.

The Purple Riders showed once they took the field at Bill Power Stadium they were ready to play despite the whirlwind past 48 hours.

Walkquem Cox had 15 carries for 172 yards and three touchdowns as Martins Ferry rolled to a 59-13 victory over the Red Raiders.

Kropka shook his head when asked about what transpired the past three days.

“I’ve been coaching for nearly 30 years. I’ve never experienced a week like that in my entire coaching career or my playing career for that matter,” Kropka said. “We had Brownsville originally scheduled and they called us on Wednesday night after practice and cancelled. Our kids were already gone. So then we had Windber signed, but then they couldn’t make it.

“So Thursday at one o’clock I called Uniontown and God bless them they bailed us out. I couldn’t have more respect for this place. Classy bunch of kids, classy coaches, a great stadium. We owe Uniontown a lot. I really appreciate what they did.”

He appreciated his team’s outstanding performance as well.

The Purple Riders (3-2) took a 13-0 lead in the first quarter on touchdown runs of 18 and 3 yards by Cox, then exploded for 34 points in the second.

Colby Kropka, the coach’s son, got the second-quarter barrage going with a 56-yard touchdown pass to Maurice Barnett at the 11:34 mark.

Martins Ferry then put up four touchdowns in a span of 4:14 starting with Cox’s 3-yard run at 5:50.

Gunner Disher followed a minute later with a 27-yard interception return for a score and after a fumble recovery by Malachi Giles, Javis Johnson Jr.’s 3-yard run two plays later made it 40-0.

After a high punt snap gave the Purple Riders the ball at the Uniontown 2-yard line, Disher plowed in on the next play to give the visitors a 47-0 halftime lead.

Uniontown (2-4) got on the board on Tayshawn Jackson’s 5-yard run with nine minutes left in the third quarter but Martins Ferry answered with 1-yard touchdown runs by Derek Lucas late in the third quarter and Cole Patterson with 3:27 left in the game.

Martins Ferry took a knee on a two-point conversion try after its final two touchdowns.

The Red Raiders capped the scoring with Zyon Hope’s 88-yard kickoff return.

Coach Kropka was pleased at the way his players responded to such a less-than-ideal scenario.

“We’ve got a veteran group so it was a little easier to handle all that happened because of that,” he said. “They dealt with the situation fantastically. We watched some film on these guys last night and had a special five o’clock practice so we could get the game plan together. It was like cramming for a test.

“But they handled it beautifully. I was very proud of them.”

Colby Kropka threw just four passes but completed three of them for 82 yards and a touchdown. Johnson had seven carries for 66 yards and Patterson ran the ball four times for 60 yards.