Barely beating Bears
Stiff late defense, clutch drive fuel Ads in opener
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Forcing this fumble, which he recovered, was Trey Nesbitt (blue), Farragut senior defensive end. The turnover set up a third-quarter field goal en route to a 25-21 Admirals win Friday, Aug. 21. - Photo courtesy of Carlos Reveiz/crfoto.com
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Caleb Kuhn, left, Farragut senior linebacker, grabs hold of Bradley Central quarterback Javin Burke prior to his tackle. The Ads rallied to win 25-21 Friday, Aug. 21, at FHS’s Bill Clabo Field. - Photo courtesy of Carlos Reveiz/crfoto.com
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Carter Schuermann, Farragut senior offensive lineman (77), prepares to block a Bradley pass rusher. - Photo courtesy of Carlos Reveiz/crfoto.com
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Farragut’s Eli Purcell looks for running room against the Bradley Central defense. The senior, also a standout linebacker, rushed 10 times for 100 yards and one TD to help the Admirals edge the Bears 25-21 Friday evening, Aug. 21, at FHS’s Bill Clabo Field. - Photo courtesy of Carlos Reveiz/crfoto.com
Dion Williams did what longtime Farragut High School football head coach Eddie Courtney said he could.
Williams, a senior running back for the Admirals, rushed for 113 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns in Farragut’s 25-21 season-opening victory against Bradley Central Friday evening, Aug. 21, at FHS’s Bill Clabo Field.
While Williams, who scored the game-winning TD, was the brightest star on this night, he got plenty of help from a supporting cast, including fellow senior running back/linebacker Eli Purcell and junior quarterback Dawson Moore, who was making his first appearance as the full-time starter.
“Dawson did a good job running our offense and Dion Williams ran the ball like we’ve been thinking he could for two years around here,” Courtney said.
Purcell rushed for 100 yards on 10 carries and had a 3-yard touchdown to give the Admirals a 14-7 lead early in the second frame.
Williams, who toted the ball 22 times, found the end zone from 7 yards out for the game-winning score with 4 minutes, 51 seconds remaining in regulation. From there, the Ads defense kept the Bears at bay for the rest of the contest, while Farragut secured two first downs to run out the clock in a game that was delayed three times due to lightning in West Knox County.
For Williams and the Admirals, the delay wasn’t such a big deal.
“I would say for most people (the delay) is mentally difficult,” said Williams, who scored Farragut’s first points of the season on a 7-yard run midway through the first quarter. “But for our team, our coaches are really big on no matter what we go through, we’ve got to respond; not necessarily act, but we have to respond to things.
“We’ve got to come with the same mentality that we would if the game started on time and if there was no (COVID-19) virus,” he added. “It’s the same mentality. If we’re down, we have to adjust.”
After Williams’ first scoring scamper, the Bears did a little responding of their own. Bradley Central pulled even when senior quarterback Javin Burke connected with his twin brother, Javon, on a 33-yard scoring strike to knot the game, 7-7, late in the opening frame.
The Ads regained the lead on Purcell’s touchdown run before Bradley Central evened things up again before halftime.
The Bears took the ball to open the second half, but there inaugural series after the break was short-lived: FHS’s Trey Nesbitt recovered a fumble on the Bradley 21-yard line.
The Ads drove the ball to the Bears’ 4 before getting a 21-yard field goal from Simeon Sharp to make it 17-14 with 7:52 left in the third stanza.
Bradley got its first lead of the contest when freshman running back Jackson Wilson had a 1-yard scoring plunge to make it 21-17 at the 4:29 mark of the quarter.
Farragut’s defense came up big early in the final frame, helping the Ads pull to within 21-19. BCHS quarterback Aiden McCreary, who replaced the injured Burke, was called for intentional grounding in the end zone with 11:11 to play.
FHS fumbled the ensuing free kick, but would get the win thanks to some big late defense and Williams’ final scoring run.
“Give Bradley Central credit,” Courtney said. “They came in here with a good game plan and they played hard and did everything they could to win the game.
“But we found a way, and I commended our guys for playing as a team. ... Tonight was the first time that they got to go in the locker room,” he added.
