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Mistakes key as Rebels end Farragut football season
Christopher Bray - Sat, Nov, 13, 2010
MARYVILLE — On a perfect night for football in Maryville, the Farragut Admirals ran into a Rebels offense that executed to perfection and capitalized on several FHS mistakes.
On Friday night, Nov. 12, at Jim Renfro Field, a season of turmoil ended for the Admirals (7-5), losing 41-10 in round 2 of the TSSAA Class 6A playoffs.
“Game after game, we had people in casts, lost some starters, won some games, lost more starters and then went up to Seveir County and came together as a team to pull out that win,” said senior LB Brooks Harper, “This team surprised the heck out of me every week.”
Farragut’s gutsy team, coming off that huge win over Seveir County last week, simply had nothing for a Maryville team that was hitting on all cylinders.
The Rebels (11-1), top seed in 6A's eastern-most quadrant, won the coin toss and immediately marched 80 yards down the field in six plays for an opening-drive score and a lead they would not relinquish.
The Admirals responded on its first possession, moving the ball 60 yards but forced to settle for a 37-yard field goal by sophomore Jonathan King.
The Rebels' next drive was stalled when sophomore Caleb Whitney sacked Maryville quarterback Patton Robinette for a 4-yard loss on third-and-10. But they were unable to stop Maryville from adding to its lead with a 45-yard field goal.
FHS came out in its “wild-cat” look, but on third-and-four disaster struck. A fumble resulted in a first-and-goal from the Admirals 8 for the Rebels.
“They [turnovers] are big. You can’t let a good, confident team like Maryville have those opportunities,” said Farragut head coach Eddie Courtney. "They make you pay when you do.”
Two plays and 25 seconds later, the Rebels opened up a two-touchdown lead when freshman running back Shawn Prevo powered in from the 2.
The Admirals were forced to punt when their next drive stalled, and Maryville took over at their own 33.
Once again Maryville would execute a 2-play drive, this time covering 67 yards. After Robinette ran for 13 yards, Robby Pederson took a delayed draw and ran untouched for 53 yards and a 24-3 Maryville lead.
The game was slipping out of control and Farragut needed something big.
On third-and-nine from its own 39, they got what they needed. Sophomore quarterback Jonathan King, filling in again for an injured Cody Rule, hit senior Ty Perez over the middle for a sure first down.
Perez made a spectacular move and was off to the races for a 61-yard touchdown, stopping the bleeding and giving new life to a desperate Admirals team.
The Rebels took over from their own 20 with 2:48 left on the clock and the Ads badly needed a stop.
The Rebels continued to move the ball with ease. Robinette’s 19-yard keeper took the ball into Farragut territory. Two plays later, the Rebels came close to throwing a knockout punch when what looked like a sure touchdown was dropped.
From there the Admirals defense stiffened, forcing a punt to end the half.
“We were only 14-points down at halftime,” Courtney said. “I told them that we get the ball back and we just have to move the ball down the field and it’s a 7-point game. We couldn’t get that done.”
What happened next all but ended the Ads hopes of any kind of comeback.
Farragut opened the second half by going three-and-out, and then the Rebels executed a 16-play drive that ended with a 22-yard field goal, expanding their lead to 27-10.
Maryville’s defense capitalized on another turnover four plays later when junior Brandon Johns returned an interception for a touchdown, making the score 34-10.
Yet another turnover three plays later set the Rebels up with a first down at the Admirals 34, and again Maryville would make the Ads pay.
It took the Rebels five plays, but eventually Shawn Prevo would punch it in from the seven for his second score of the night and the lead grew to 41-10.
The Admirals were out of fight.
“Throughout this season we seem to have had all the adversity a team could go through,” junior Braden Urevick said. “We’ve had the death of a coach, hurt players, but we stuck together as a team.”
Courtney was hopeful after the game as he assessed his program's prospects moving forward.
“I know we will be a better football team next year because we have developed great leadership out of this bunch. We have a lot of guys who are sophomores and juniors. They grew up this year, hopefully next year it will show for us.”
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