FHS looking for ‘response’ in region opener
His team’s 30-7 loss to Upperman glowed on the distant scoreboard, and Courtney wanted to know how his team would answer.
“We’ve had as tough of a stretch as anybody around,” he said. “What is that going to make us; how are we going to respond?”
The Admirals (0-3) will have a chance to answer that question this week, as they travel to Bradley Central (1-2) for their Region 2-6A opener on Friday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m.
“Just like I know they will,” Courtney said when asked about his team’s response. “They’re a tough group, and they’ve responded every time in the offseason and throughout the summer.”
Farragut will be taking on a Bears team that stormed back to beat Hardin Valley 43-40 last week. But aside from the opposing team’s film, the Ads also can glean several lessons from their own output against Upperman in their home opener.
In the first half last Friday, the FHS offense gave up two fumbles, two sacks and a safety in its first seven plays. The next two quarters did not look much better, as Upperman rang up a 23-0 halftime lead with most of its 375 offensive yards coming in the first half.
“We’ve got to play better early, still letting the moment get too big early in the game,” Courtney said. “It happened at Carson-Newman and again tonight. Just sloppy play, undisciplined. Got to clean those things up.”
Still, the Ads bounced back with two forced fumbles from Mason Swor (recovered by Thatcher Cherry and John Eddelmon) before Hayes Sharp found Johnny Jacobs for a 17-yard touchdown strike with 2:22 left in the game.
Sharp finished 5-of-14 for 67 yards, a touchdown and an interception, overcoming a hard hit that brought a grimace and back pain early in the second half.
“Probably got hit for the first time tonight,” Courtney said Friday. “For him to battle back and respond, he needed to collect himself a little bit. He came out and finished the game and played well after that.
“He let the game come to him, he was poised, he did what he was asked to do. More than that, to see him play probably as bad as it could be in the first half — and it wasn’t all on him; we weren’t playing great around him, either — but from bad and dysfunctional as an offense, to come out and play much better, completed some balls, made great decisions, that’s what I was encouraged to see.”
Jacobs noted a similar encouragement at wide receiver, where he totaled three catches for 40 yards and a touchdown.
“It was great,” Jacobs said. “I felt those sparks all throughout the game. I’m happy we were able to connect on some passes and score, and it’s only going to get better.”
Dayton Parks added four carries for 23 yards on the ground, and Wyatt Walker led the Farragut defense with 12 tackles to give him 28 in total this season.
FHS will look to turn those sparks into more this week, as it faces a Bradley team with which it is plenty familiar.
“They look like a typical Bradley team,” Courtney said. “Tough, physical. Coach Floyd always does a good job. Very multiple on defense. Offensively, they’ll try to spread you out to run the ball and go to play-action. We’ve always had really great, tough games with them. It’ll be a good environment down there with an opportunity for our first region game.”
“We’ve got to shake it off and keep our heads up,” Jacobs added. “Everyone outside here is putting us down. We need to stay resilient. We know what we have, and we are going to be ready to go.”
