Published: September 06, 2008 01:20 am         

Pirates cruise past Patriots

FAYETTEVILLE — K.C. Dempsey showed his heels to the Midland Trail Patriots, and Dempsey’s Fayetteville Pirates proceeded to exhibit why they’re considered one of the state’s best single-A football teams.

Dempsey’s 88-yard scoring return down the right sideline on the opening kickoff gave Fayetteville an early boost, and the Pirates built a 27-0 halftime margin en route to a 40-21 win over their Fayette County rival. Fayetteville scored on five of six possessions in the opening half at Fletcher Arritt Memorial Stadium, putting the Patriots at a deficit from which they could never recover.

“That kickoff return was huge,” Midland Trail coach Joe Dean said. “We messed it up (in the coverage lanes) and K.C. (broke contain) and it was a smart run on his part.

“We never recovered.”

To make sure they stayed in control, the Pirates got field goals from MichaelAngelo Hernandez on their next two possessions, one which was keyed by a 53-yard Troy Hopkins punt return, reached paydirt on a 32-yard screen pass from Hernandez to Caleb O’Neal and scored again on a one-yard burst by Drew Weis late in the half for the 27-point cushion.

“We played in the first half like we’re capable of playing,” Fayetteville coach David Moneypenny said. “Sometimes a team gets comfortable, and we didn’t play as well in the second half.

“We told our kids all along that Midland Trail would come out as hard as they did, no matter the score.”

The Patriots put all their points on the board in the second half as fullback Aaron Shrewsbury, who wound up rambling for 168 yards, scored on runs of 1 and 56 yards, and Coty Pierson hauled in a 35-yard scoring pass from Nathan Syner with less than a minute to play.

“We had some kids step up,” Dean said. “We did OK in the second half, but they had too huge a lead.

“You can’t spot somebody that many points, and Fayetteville’s a good football team.”

To keep Midland Trail at bay, the Pirates received a 53-yard scoring toss from Hernandez to Hopkins late in the third quarter, and Hernandez finished off a productive night with an 11-yard scoring burst of his own with 2:00 to play.

On the evening, Hernandez completed 7 of 10 passes for 141 yards and two scores. He also provided field goals of 30 and 32 yards, rushed for a six-pointer and kicked four PATs.

“We have the ability to throw the ball and score,” Moneypenny said. “And that helps our running game.”

O’Neal rushed for 72 yards to lead a balanced FHS ground attack.

Jacob Fernandez powered the Fayetteville defensive effort with two fumble recoveries, the first which set up Weis’ six-pointer.

Syner was 11-of-22 for 127 yards and the score for the Patriots. Pierson caught two aerials for 63 yards and one score, and Dustin Nickell collected seven passes for 55 stripes.

Although displeased with some late penalties that disrupted his team’s rhythm (Fayetteville was flagged for a total of 113 yards), Moneypenny was fairly pleased with his team’s overall performance. And he’s happy to be sitting at 2-0.

“I’m glad to get these first two games over,” he said. “With rivalries, it’s hard to play Oak Hill the first week and Midland Trail the next.”

Fayetteville travels to Richwood next Friday, while Midland Trail (1-1) visits Meadow Bridge.

— E-mail:

skeenan@register-herald.com



Fayetteville 40, Midland Trail 21

MT (1-1) 0 0 6 15 — 21

F (2-0) 10 17 6 7 — 40

First Quarter

F: K.C. Dempsey 88 kick return (MichaelAngelo Hernandez kick), 11:45

F: Hernandez 32 field goal, 6:09

Second Quarter

F: Hernandez 30 field goal, 11:12

F: Caleb O’Neal 32 pass from Hernandez (Hernandez kick), 6:56

F: Drew Weis 1 run (Hernandez kick), 1:17

Third Quarter

MT: Aaron Shrewsbury 1 run (kick failed), 2:44

F: Troy Hopkins 53 pass from Hernandez (run failed), 2:12

Fourth Quarter

MT: Shrewsbury 56 run (Dustin Nickell pass from Nathan Syner), 6:27

F: Hernandez 11 run (Hernandez kick), 2:00

MT: Coty Pierson 35 pass from Syner (Will Deskins kick), 0:32.7

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — MT: Aaron Shrewsbury 18-168-2, Dustin Nickell 2-0, Nathan Syner 13-45, Jake Crist 2-5, Justin Grimmett 1-0. F: Drew Weis 11-54-1, MichaelAngelo Hernandez 5-7-1, Brian Trofy 7-48, Troy Hopkins 4-63, Caleb O’Neal 12-72, Donald McDowell 1-minus-2.

PASSING — MT: Syner 11-22-0-127-1. F: Hernandez 7-10-1-141-2.

RECEIVING — MT: Coty Pierson 2-63-1, Nickell 7-55, Shrewsbury 1-minus-1, Will Deskins 1-15. F: Hopkins 1-53-1, Vernon Farrell 1-13, Weis 1-27, K.C. Dempsey 2-13, O’Neal 2-35-1.

TURNOVERS — MT: Shrewsbury (int), Cody O’Dell (fr). F: Jacob Fernandez (2 fr).