By Chris Thomas of the Knoxville News Sentinel
Forgive Farragut High School’s football team for looking ahead.
The Admirals, who open Region 3-5A play against region favorite Oak Ridge next week, played lethargically from the outset on Friday. Dropped passes prevented the Admirals from becoming proficient on offense.
Early penalties — and an inspired Gibbs team that was far more physical —also plagued their progress.
But the Admirals finished with a flurry.
Farragut scored the game’s final 24 points to rally past host Gibbs 31-21 in a non-region game. Senior quarterback Adam Fulton
completed just 9-of-22 passes for 160 yards, but his two touchdowns in the third quarter — including a 56-yarder to Braden Collins (101 yards) — helped the Admirals erase a 21-7 deficit in the second half.
“We weren’t focused in this game, I knew it in the pregame we were too relaxed,” said Farragut coach Eddie Courtney. “I knew it in pregame. That’s a good football team. They run the football; they’re physical.”
Farragut (2-0) romped then-No. 1 Oak Ridge 31-14 in their Region 3-5A opener last season, a statement win in its run to the region title. The winner of that game has produced the region champion the past two seasons.
A repeat is the goal, and Courtney hopes Friday’s nail-biter serves as a wake-up call. The Admirals trailed 14-7 at halftime and 21-7 after Demarcus Hight’s 6-yard touchdown run with 7 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Fulton threw touchdown passes to Davis Simmons (3 yards) and
Collins (56 yards) to tie the game by the end of the third. Joe Doyle’s 34-yard field goal gave Farragut, penalized 12 times for 90 yards, its first lead with 3:47 left in the fourth.
Amon Johnson and Cooper Hardin had 3-
yard TD runs for the Admirals, which gained momentum when Hardin returned a Hight fumble 37 yards to set up Doyle’s go-ahead kick. It was Gibbs’ only turnover of the game.
“I have to commend (our guys): they came back and made it happen in the fourth quarter,” Courtney said. Gibbs (0-2), which rushed for 317 yards, outgained Farragut 144-127 in the first half, gashing the Admirals’ defense with long runs on both of its scoring drives. Dalton Rodgers (91 yards) scored two touchdowns, and backup quarterback Kolby
Mundt (72 yards) provided a spark in place of starter H.T. Fortner (high-ankle sprain). Hight finished with 99 yards rushing.
The Eagles committed eight turnovers in Week 1.
“I don’t know what it is about our kids,” Gibbs coach Brad Conley said, “but the kids in this program didn’t give up. We’re not into moral victories. Those kids believed they were going to win this game.”
Chris Thomas is the high school sports editor for the Knoxville News Sentinel. Read his work at PrepXtra.com.
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Every week be sure to checkout CRFOTO.com for a full photo gallery from Friday’s game. See a photo you like? They are also available for purchase directly from his website. Click here for this week’s photos.
OFFICIAL GAME STATS
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