BY DAVID SHAW
FOR THE SALISBURY POST

STATESVILLE — Salisbury’s perfectly awful football season is perfect no more.

The blemish came Friday night when the Hornets, losers of eight straight games this season and 10 overall, broke into the win column with a dramatic, last-minute victory at West Iredell.

“You get to the point where you wonder exactly how snakebit are you,” coach Mike Peavey said after Salisbury fled the scene with a 10-7 CCC triumph. “You wonder when the breaks are gonna go your way. It finally happened for us.”

The Hornets (1-4, 1-8) clinched the win when junior Matt Russ kicked a 26-yard field goal with 1.8 seconds remaining. But the play of the game came with 11 seconds to go, when cornerback Fred Cuthbertson intercepted an overthrown pass and returned it 26 yards to the West Iredell 14. Afterward, he provided some you-are-there insight.

“When I saw the two wideouts line up, I thought to myself, ‘I can’t get burned here,’” Cuthbertson recalled. “I said, ‘This is my game, right here, right now.’”

The pass, thrown by Warriors’ quarterback Malcolm Harris and intended for Tyrell McClelland, was actually tipped by Salisbury’s Kevin McCullough near the left sideline before Cuthbertson made the pick.

“It went right through my hands,” he said. “I saw the ball in the air and broke on it. I wanted it myself. Luckily, my teammate was there to grab it.”

“Fred’s been our lock-down guy on that side all year,” said Peavey. “We needed that play and finally, instead of being snakebit, we got a break. Then he made a great run on the return. That’s what really turned the ballgame around.”

And with it turned the Hornets’ fortunes. Following a five-yard run by halfback Titus Vinson, Peavey called on Russ — who had misfired on previous tries from 50 and 37 yards.

“If I’ve got to have a kid kicking a field goal for me to win the game, it’s gotta be Matt Russ,” said Peavey. “He’s one of the most focused kids I’ve ever met.”

Russ had to be, especially after West Iredell (2-3, 2-7 overall) called back-to-back timeouts in an attempt to psych him out. “That’s part of the game,” he said. “I just had to isolate myself and not think about it too much.”

The play began with center Matt Butler’s perfect snap to holder Brian Roten. “My hands were shaking, I was so nervous,” said Butler. “But I got it there.”

They needn’t have worried. Russ booted the ball right down Broadway, triggering a frantic celebration on the Salisbury sideline.

“It felt really fluid to me,” he said. “Everything felt real easy and the ball went straight through.”

“It clicked,” added Roten, who refused to accept any credit for the game-winning play. “He’s the one that kicked it. I just put it on the tee. Right now I love him. He gave me my first win as a senior.”