|
Turning the tables
By Andrew Smith
The Weekly Post
|
|
Published November 6, 2008
FYFFE—The 2006 and 2007 meetings between Fyffe and Plainview weren’t close. Thursday night, the Bears decided to continue that trend.
Plainview, dominant on both sides of the ball, defeated host Fyffe 35-12 for their first victory over the Red Devils in eight years. Fyffe had won three in a row during the series, which was renewed in 2006 following a hiatus after the 2001 season. The last two games between the squads had ended in blowout victories for the Red Devils.
As they had been for the two games prior to Thursday night, Plainview was slow out of the gate, allowing Fyffe to drive the field on their first possession and take a 6-0 lead. After that, however, it was all Plainview. The Bears scored four unanswered touchdowns over the following 2 1/2 quarters, building a comfortable 28-6 advantage entering the final period. Plainview held off a late rally attempt by the Red Devils, prompting the visiting crowd into chants of “Too Much Blue” as the clock wound down.
“Anytime you beat your neighbor, it’s a good win,” Plainview head coach Dale Pruitt said. “I think (Fyffe) did an outstanding job in preparation. They came out with a good offensive gameplan.”
The Red Devils picked up 60 of their 249 total yards on their opening drive of the game. Taylor Thrash scored on the sixth play of the march on a double handoff that went 28 yards to paydirt with 7:17 remaining in the opening quarter.
Seemingly unfazed, Plainview’s offense retaliated with their own scoring drive, going 70 yards on 12 plays. Plainview (7-3) picked up substantial gains on both of their third-down plays on the drive. Will Ingle converted a third-and-two with a 12-yard run from the Fyffe 35-yard line while Gabe Graham threw to Keenan Hodges for 16 yards on third-and-five inside the red zone (20-yard line). Hodges’ reception set up a 2-yard TD run by Ingle with 2:18 remaining. Eduardo DeSouza, who was 5-for-5 on extra-point attempts, kicked the point-after through the uprights to give Plainview the lead for good.
The Bears, which ran on 11 of their 15 first-quarter plays, kept the rushing game going in the second quarter. Starting at their own 20 after a Fyffe punt, Plainview drove the field in just seven plays, dialing up run plays on five of them. A 48-yard run by Josh Kidd got the ball inside the Fyffe 5, setting up another 2-yard TD plunge by Ingle to make it 14-6 with 9:08 left before the half.
The Red Devils (7-3) marched their ensuing possession inside the Plainview 30, but the drive ended when a tipped pass was picked off by Ryan Rutledge. The senior returned the ball to midfield, setting up the Bears’ final scoring drive of the half. Ingle again capped the drive, this time on a 1-yard run that made it 21-6 with 1:36 left in the second stanza.
Fyffe made a late push at the end zone on the ensuing possession after big runs by Jesse Westbrooks and Thrash along with a pass interference penalty set the ball at the Bear 20. Jesse Townsel threw to Lucas Yancey for 11 yards on the next play. Following an incompletion, however, Hodges picked off a pass in the end zone with 19 seconds left to preserve Plainview’s two-score advantage at half-time.
Plainview ran the ball on 23 of their 30 first-half plays on offense, picking up 156 of their 214 first-half yards on the ground.
After picking up 59 yards on their first five rushing plays, Fyffe’s Wing-T offense was held to 47 rushing yards on 10 plays for the remainder of the first half. They totaled 149 yards in the first half.
“They’re just better than we are,” Fyffe head coach Paul Benefield said. “They’re more physical. Our kids played hard, and I wouldn’t trade them for anyone. I’m proud of the way our kids played. They kept their class, and we’re going to shake hands like men when it’s over.”
Plainview scored again in the third quarter on a 41-yard catch-and-run by Trey Haymon on a pass from Graham to make it 28-6 entering the fourth quarter. However, Fyffe wasn’t quite done yet.
The Red Devil defense forced the Bears to punt from their own 4 early in the fourth quarter, setting the Fyffe offense up at the Plainview 31. They scored in just three plays, capping the drive with a 15-yard TD pass from Townsel to Yancey with 10:29 remaining in the game. The ensuing two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 28-12.
Plainview thwarted any hope of a Fyffe comeback on the following drive, going 67 yards on 11 plays. More importantly, Plainview ate up precious clock, draining 5:44 off the scoreboard before Haymon caught an 8-yard TD pass from Graham on fourth down with 4:45 remaining to cap the scoring.
“Their kids played hard,” Pruitt said about Fyffe. “It was a typical Plainview-Fyffe football game, a few big plays here and there.”
Plainview ended the night with 376 yards of total offense, 213 of it coming on the ground. Graham had all 163 passing yards for the Bears on 10-of-18 passing.
Haymon (62 yards) and J.T. Clark (48) both had three grabs apiece while Kidd (29) and Hodges (24) had a pair of receptions each.
Gonzales picked 61 yards on 13 carries, Kidd had 54 yards on three attempts and Ingle gained 43 yards on eight rushes. Graham compiled 37 rushing yards on 10 carries while Wigley had 18 yards on a pair of rushes.
Townsel was 9-of-14 through the air for Fyffe, picking up 92 yards. Yancey caught five of those passes for 67 yards. Thrash had a pair of catches while Westbrooks and Clint Graben both snared a pass each.
Thrash paced the Red Devils’ ground game, rolling up 77 yards on 11 carries. Graben gained 45 yards on five attempts while Westbrooks gained 25 yards on seven carries. Evan King and Sedmon Allen both had nine yards rushing on two carries apiece.
Before the game began, Plainview offensive stat keeper Luke Laney went out ahead of the Bears for the coin toss. Laney is a senior at Plainview this year.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
