Fog rolling in from the Foothills of the Smokies couldn’t slow Farragut High School’s offense or defense on Friday.
The Admirals forced four first-half turnovers and grabbed an early advantage thanks in part to junior running back Tanner Thomas, who finished with 165 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and ended a three-game losing skid with a 49-30 District 4-AAA victory over Heritage.
Farragut (2-5, 2-2) endured a thick fog over the field much of the game and, in addition to Thomas’ ground-and-pound attack, received solid production out of quarterback Jacob Naumoff, who threw for 213 yards and two scores.
Heritage (2-5, 1-3), which has lost four straight, had its offense rolling on its opening drive when a 76-yard bomb from Dustin Richardson to Devin Gardner led to a 1-yard touchdown run by Orlando Bledsoe.
But it was all downhill for the Mountaineers thereafter.
Heritage turned it over on its next four possessions with a fumble and three interceptions, and Farragut didn’t hesitate to capitalize.
“We just tried to simplify a few things tonight,” Admirals coach Eddie Courtney said. “It started up front where we were getting pretty good pressure. We had been giving up (turnovers) the past five games and tonight getting them helped us so much.”
The Admirals followed an Amon Johnson 4-yard touchdown run on their opening drive with a Tanner Thomas 1-yard scoring run early in the second.
Thomas punched it in again midway through the second, this time from 1-yard out, and the Admirals grabbed a 28-7 halftime advantage on a Naumoff 35-yard touchdown pass to Derek Williams.
“We had been disappointed the last few weeks with the way we played,” Courtney said. “But our kids hung in there and played hard.”
Naumoff’s 3-yard touchdown run on Farragut’s second-half opening drive put the game out of reach.
The Admirals grabbed a 49-7 lead late in the third when Naumoff connected with Franklin Stooksbury on a 28-yard strike but Heritage clawed back with three late touchdowns.
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