Fayetteville rolls by Wildcats

By Randall Jett

FAYETTEVILLE — It took a little more than half the first quarter before Class A No. 6 Fayetteville got going Friday at Fletcher Arritt Memorial Stadium.

But once the Pirates got started, they rolled to a 49-8 victory over No. 16 Meadow Bridge.

“We had a good week of preparation, and thank goodness, it paid off,” Fayetteville coach Dave Moneypenny said. “You can’t rest when you’re trying to play against coach (Larry) McClintic and the Wildcats. That’s just the way it is. He’s a great coach. I have the utmost respect for him.”

Meadow Bridge came into the game missing six starters — among them starting quarterback Eric Halstead.

“We’ve had the awfulest malady I’ve ever been through,” McClintic said. “We’ve had kids hurt. I had a starting linebacker go home in pre-game. He came in sick and didn’t make it out of pre-game. Our quarterback is out. Our fullback was tardy to class today, so they chose to suspend him. The last two ballgames, we haven’t been at full strength. We’re not coaching, we’re patching.”

Troy Hopkins lit up the Wildcats’ defense for three scores, two rushing and one receiving.

“Troy’s got the tools,” Moneypenny said. “When we have to go to somebody, we can go to Troy and we know (he’ll get it done). Troy’s a great player. He’s a phenomenal athlete. He really adds a nice dimension to our team.”

Hopkins got behind the Wildcat defense and Michaelangelo Hernandez hit him for an 80-yard strike to open the scoring.

On the Pirates’ next possession, Hopkins took an inside hand-off and bounced around the left end for a 31-yard run to the end zone.

Fayetteville (4-0) put the game away on the Wildcats’ next possession. The Pirates blocked a Meadow Bridge punt and Steven Fruit fell on the ball in the end zone to put Fayetteville up 21-0.

The Pirates struck again quickly as Hopkins scampered 12 yards at the 6:36 mark of the second quarter.

Hernandez moved the Fayetteville offense up and down the field at will, going 6-for-6 passing in the first half for 110 yards. He finished with 150 yards on 11-of-13 passing and rushed for 18 yards on three carries.

“We don’t talk about Michaelangelo enough,” Moneypenny said. “He’s our quarterback. He’s got the keys to the car. He’s athletic. He can throw and he can run and he’s a great leader for us.”

On defense, Fayetteville held the Wildcats to 16 yards of offense and two first downs in the first half.

Caleb O’Neal’s 6-yard TD run put the Pirates up 34-0 in the third quarter before the subs took over for Fayetteville.

Nathan Neely managed 40 yards and a late TD on 13 carries for Meadow Bridge (2-2).

Fayetteville travels to Valley next Friday, while Meadow Bridge hosts Pendleton County.

— E-mail:

rjett@register-herald.com

Fayetteville 49, Meadow Bridge 8

MB (2-2) 0 0 0 8 — 8

F (4-0) 7 21 6 15 — 49

First Quarter

F — Troy Hopkins 80 pass from Michaelangelo Hernandez (M. Hernandez kick) 4:39

Second Quarter

F — Hopkins 31 run (M. Hernandez kick) 10:29

F — Steven Fruit blocked punt recovery in end zone (M. Hernandez kick) 8:18

F — Hopkins 12 run (M. Hernandez kick) 6:36

Third Quarter

F — Caleb O’Neal 6 run (kick failed) 2:53

Fourth Quarter

F — Brian Trofy 3 pass from Steven Fruit (O’Neal kick) 8:52

MB — Nathan Neely 9 run (Korey Persinger pass from Alex Redden) 5:58

F — Hunter Hernandez 1 run (Perry Jarrell pass from Chris Hill) 1:01

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — MB: Neely 13-40-1, Redden 13-20, Devonte Petitt 7-33, T.J. Henson 3-27, Brian Gwinn 1-1. F: Drew Weis 10-38, Hopkins 4-43-2, M. Hernandez 3-18, Trofy 4-34, O’Neal 1-6-1, H. Hernandez 7-44-1, Fruit 2-10, Hill 1-15, J.R. Sears 1-1, Elijah Lewis 1-0, Team 1-(-16).

PASSING — MB: Redden 0-4-0-0-0, Tyler Vandall 1-1-0-17-0. F: M. Hernandez 11-13-0-150-1, Fruit 2-2-0-26-1.

RECEIVING — MB: Chris Gray 1-17. F: Hopkins 1-80-1, Trofy 5-27-1, Weis 3-14, H. Hernandez 1-23, K.C. Dempsey 1-15, Vernon Farrell 1-9, Jon Paul Blankenship 1-8.

TURNOVERS — MB: Joey Sims (fr). F: Fruit (bpr), Jacob Fernandez (fr).