‘Hill Stadium (Navy) Blues’
Balanced attack, tough defense provide 35-13 Ads blowout at Sci-Hill
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Helping give the FHS offense an extra second-half boost was Elijah Gibbs, sophomore running back, who breaks free against the Hilltoppers. - Photos by Carlos Reveiz/crfoto.com
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Pass rush pressure from junior Corey Walker, Farragut nose guard, forced a fumble by Science Hill quarterback Jaxon Diamond during this Region 1-6A showdown in Johnson City Friday night, Oct. 2. The Admirals pulled away in the second half to win easily 35-13.. - Photos by Carlos Reveiz/crfoto.com
JOHNSON CITY — In a happy post-game team huddle on Steve Spurrier Field at Science Hill High School, Farragut offensive coordinator Geoff Courtney was ready to point out the good news showing on the scoreboard.
But as he turned and pointed that way, the scoreboard was blank, having been turned off.
“That’s what happens when you succeed on the road, they turn the scoreboard off,” Courtney announced to his team following a 35-13 Ads Region 1-6A win Friday, Oct. 2.
Offensively, a balanced rushing attack led by runners Schumann Xie, a junior, Dion Williams, a senior, and Elijah Gibbs, a sophomore, were well complemented by a steady and explosive passing attack led by the arm of Dawson Moore, junior quarterback.
As a critical component to that balance, “I feel like our offensive line has gotten better each week,” Admirals skipper Eddie Courtney said about tackles Carter Schuermann and Wilson Ventura, center Eli Harville and guards Dennis Longmire and Aiden Smith. “They did a good job of being physical up front and opening holes for our running backs, who ran well.”
“We had to come off the ball, get our double teams together … that really played a major part in our win tonight,” Ventura said. “We have some good running backs who know how to read the holes back there.”
“We tried to come out strong,” Moore said about his first-half touchdown passes of 45 yards to Matt White and 17 yards to Trace Corum.
Defensively, “The front guys did a good job of trying to control the run game,” the head coach said. “Our secondary and linebackers — we were concerned about their passing game — I felt we kept them in check there.’
“Our coaches coached us up well,” said Camden Kuhn, FHS senior linebacker. “We had guys out there making plays all over the field.”
Farragut set up the Moore TD pass to White one play after a deflected pass went into the arms of Kuhn for an Admirals interception he returned 15 yards to the SHHS 45.
After White’s 30-yard punt return, a 39-yard FHS TD drive was highlighted by Xie’s 18-yard run before the Moore-to-Corum scoring connection.
A 77-yard touchdown march early the third quarter ended with Williams’ 8-yard scoring run with 3:46 left in the third quarter, making it 21-7.
The Hilltoppers fumbled the ensuing kickoff return, and Junior Dylan Cosey recovered at the Science Hill 26. While Gibbs’ running accounted for most of the yardage, Williams scored from inside the SHHS 1 seconds into the fourth quarter, as Farragut led 28-7.
Corum’s 45-yard TD grab from Moore came with 7:06 to play, upping the edge to 35-7.
