Tyler Harris, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
PROCTORVILLE — If you’re watching your favorite football team play a game, what does the ideal game look like? How well would your team have to play for you to call it a perfect game?
For fans in Proctorville on Friday, they got a darn near perfect game from their Fairland Dragons in a victory over the visiting Trimble Tomcats.
CREDIT: Baylee Harris/SOSA
The Dragons’ offense, led by their air attack, scored on eight of nine drives, had over 400 yards of offense and amassed 61 points en route to a 61-27 drubbing of Trimble.
And let it be known … the game wasn’t even as close as that final score says.
Fairland (3-1), led by their senior quarterback Peyton Jackson, scored on its first seven possessions, five of which came through the air as Jackson carved up the Tomcat defense all night long.
“He’s a three-year starter and we have a lot of trust in him back there,” Fairland coach Mike Jackson said of his senior signal caller. “We needed a bounce-back win after last week and we put a lot of faith in him. He was on tonight making the right decisions all game long.”
Fairland used big plays from the offense to do the damage, which started with a 45-yard pitch and catch from Jackson to Keegan Smith, putting the Dragons up 7-0.
A blocked punt on the defensive side of the ball allowed Jackson to quickly dial in his second touchdown pass of the night, this time to Jack Hayden from 16 yards out, making it 14-0 Dragons, and doing so quickly.
The Tomcats (1-2) broke through for their lone first half score after a grueling 13-play drive set Xavier Cunningham up for a four-yard plunge.
The Dragons responded with 19 unanswered points. Jackson found Brycen Hunt for a 27-yard score, Hayden punched in a four-yard touchdown on the ground and Kam Kitts took a screen pass 44 yards to the house.
PHOTOS: Images from Fairland’s win over Trimble
By the time the dust settled, it was 33-6 and four different names had found pay dirt.
“When you have that many weapons, we’re happy when any of them get the ball,” Jackson said of his team’s plethora of scoring options. “We don’t call for single receivers and it allows Peyton to take what the defense gives him as he goes through his progressions.”
Not to be outdone by its counterpart, the Dragons’ defense held the Tomcats to just 97 total yards through two quarters and held a dangerous Trimble rushing attack in check most of the night.
“Trimble is a group of hard-nosed kids,” Jackson said. “We knew they were going to run the ball and we had to keep telling our guys to be consistent and keep grinding because that is a tough team to stop.”
The Tomcats got the ball rolling in the second half when they marched right down the field in 10 plays, resulting in a 13-yard scamper by Max Frank to make the score 33-12.
Then Fairland, in typical fashion, wasted no time — literally — scoring just 49 seconds later when a fourth 40-plus yard pass play set up Kam Kitts for a one-yard score, pushing the lead to 40-12 halfway through the third.
The teams then began trading punches as the Tomcats kept trying to seize momentum. But the high-flying air attack from Fairland kept them at bay. Trimble scored on a one-yard touchdown from Brandon Burdette and the Dragons countered 48 seconds later with another 40-plus yard passing touchdown, this time Jackson finding Hunt running free down the sideline, making the score 47-19.
While this game was all offense, the Dragons’ defense came late to the party when Ryan Dixon recovered a Tomcat fumble for a scoop and score, pushing the lead to 54-19 with nine minutes remaining.
Each team scored one more time as the Tomcats’ Matthew Moyer found pay dirt from four yards out before Fairland’s Lucas Bompus galloped 64 yards untouched to round out the final score.
Fairland was led offensively by Jackson, who finished 21-of-24 passing for 343 yards and five scores. Hunt led the way receiving with four catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Smith had five receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown, Hayden and Kitts each contributed a rushing and receiving touchdown for the Dragons, and Bompus had a 64-yard touchdown rush.
Trimble relied on its rushing attack, led by Burdette, who carried the rock 11 times for 78 yards and a touchdown. Cunningham had 67 yards on 16 carries and a score of his own, Moyer pitched in with seven totes for 56 yards and a touchdown, and Frank also ran for a score.
Fairland is back in action next week, hosting Rock Hill in Ohio Valley Conference play. Meanwhile, Trimble will try to get back in the win column at Woodward.
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