Photo by Nick Henthorn Linsly’s Malaki Washington discards a defender during the Cadets’ homecoming win Friday against the Dover Crimson Tornadoes. Washington ran for 200 yards and three touchdowns in the victory.

WEST LIBERTY — Friday night’s win meant a little more for Linsly head football coach BJ Depew and his Cadets, who pounded their way to a 35-27 win over visiting Dover, a homecoming night victory inside West Family Stadium which ended with the Linsly team celebrating on the field with their student body.

“I’m so happy for our team, but I’m happy for our school,” Depew said after the game. “We have taken lumps for quite a while now, and for these guys to come out here and perform like they did in front of our fans- who have never stopped supporting us through all of the lows in the highs and lows we’ve had, I’m really proud and happy for these guys. They’ve earned it.”

Starring for Linsly was senior running back Malaki Washington, who rushed for an even 200 yards and three touchdowns on a night where the Cadets were committed to the run game.

“He did a fantastic job,” Depew said of Washington. “He just has a never-say-die attitude as a runner. He doesn’t think that he can be stopped.

“He keeps his legs driving. We did a nice job blocking for him up front with our fullback, but he definitely exploded. We could see it over the last couple of weeks, but he just couldn’t get the running room. Today our guys made it for him.”

All-in-all, Linsly ran it a lofty 55 times as a team. Lucca Troullos and George Mamakos also scored on the ground for the Cadets, who were dead-set on keeping the game at their own pace Friday.

“Definitely, the game plan was to keep the ball away from [Dover],” Depew said. “Their offense is explosive. They give you a lot to look at when you’re playing defense. But, you don’t always execute the game plan like we did tonight. We really did a nice job, and it was a coordinated effort and a great job by both of our coordinators this week.”

There were only three possessions in the first quarter, and no scores in the opening period- though Linsly had the ball at Dover’s three-yard line at quarter’s end.

Dover only ran three plays in the first quarter before fumbling the ball back to the methodical Cadets.

On the first play of the second quarter, Lucca Troullos plowed ahead for a three-yard touchdown to start Friday’s scoring, and at the tail end of the quarter, a 17-yard pass to Justin Heckman highlighted another long drive for Linsly, one that ended in a five-yard Malaki Washington touchdown run with under a minute until halftime.

Counting Dover’s short possession before heading to the locker rooms, there were only six combined possessions in the first half. With a grind-it-out gameplan, ending drives in the end zone was especially important for Linsly, who were 5/5 on red zone opportunities Friday.

“We finished drives because we didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot, which is what we’d been doing for a couple of weeks,” Depew said.

Ahead 14-0 at the break, offense was about to pick up, for both sides, in the second half.

Dover got on the board midway through the third quarter, Cohen Murray scoring from two yards out. Linsly’s next time out on offense, George Mamakos found paydirt on a one-yard dive, finishing a drive that was supercharged on its first play, a 65-yard blast up the gut and out of the box by Washington.

Dover stayed in the game with a score a minute into the fourth quarter, an 11-yard touchdown dash from Liam Mast, putting the pressure back on Linsly.

The Cadets were eventually faced with a third-and-six a bit across midfield into Crimson Tornado territory. In a need-to-have-it moment, Linsly quarterback Braden Wade dropped back, rolled out to his left, evaded a defender, and let loose a throw over the middle as he was drilled by another Tornado. Justin Heckman made Wade’s effort worth it, coming back to the ball and laying out for a diving grab which he narrowly secured just before it hit the turf.

The clutch conversion eventually gave way to a Malaki Washington six-yard touchdown run which let Linsly breathe, ahead 28-14 with 3:21 on the game clock.

The theatrics didn’t shock Depew at all.

“You know what, it was a spectacular play, but to be honest it’s no surprise,” Depew said. “We’ve lost our share of football games, so I think a lot of people aren’t really paying attention to our games and our players, but Justin Heckman has been making grabs like that. Chris Upton has been making huge plays. Lucca Troullos has been making plays, and so have so many others. It just hasn’t turned into victory, and it’s a little more noticeable today.

“It was a fantastic play by those two. But the truth of the matter is, they’ve been doing it.”

Needing a quick score, Dover got it, Robbie Copple sprinting his way behind the defense and reeling in a 41-yard touchdown catch. But Linsly, as they had all Friday, responded by marching down the field and running in a short touchdown, a two-yarder from Washington, to go up 35-21 with less than 90 seconds left in the game.

Dover’s Copple came up with a bobbled ball in the end zone for a 34-yard score as time expired. With no time on the clock, there was no play-after.

Washington and Darryn McCormick each had sacks on defense for Linsly.

The Cadets face Parkersburg South on the road next week.