North-South players to honor Sgt. Maynard with helmet decals

SOUTH CHARLESTON, WV (WBOY) — The 2023 North-South Football Classic will honor West Virginia State Trooper Sgt. Cory Maynard as the players adorn a helmet decal bearing his name.

According to a Facebook post from the official North-South Football Classic page, the helmet will be worn by all players during the game. The post featured one of the players for the North team, Michael Hogan whose father is a West Virginia State Police Captain.

The teams spent Friday morning and afternoon practicing and will be honored with a parade and banquet Friday evening. The game will kick off at noon on Saturday, June 10 at South Charleston High School’s Black Eagle Stadium.

Sgt. Maynard, 37, was killed in an ambush in the Beech Creek Road area on Friday, June 2, according to the West Virginia State Police (WVSP). Timothy Kennedy , 29, of Matewan, is the man accused of killing Maynard and injuring one other person.

Funeral services where held for Maynard at Mingo Central High School in Delbarton on Wednesday. A 9-mile-long procession followed Sgt. Maynard’s body back to the Evans Funeral Home in Chapmanville after the funeral service and visitation .

Sgt. Maynard is being remembered as a hero by friends, agencies and West Virginia officials. One man – Justin Marcum – told Nexstar’s WOWK that he had talked to Sgt. Maynard the morning before his death.

“He never met a stranger. If it was a homeless person, if it was an attorney if it was whomever, a school teacher, he also took time to say hi to people,” Marcum said. “His presence in the community as a law enforcement officer and just as a man, it’s going to be dearly missed.”

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