Farragut made the short trip to Lenoir City on Friday, October 14th, to take on the Panthers in a Region 3-5A showdown. The Admirals made the most of their opportunities during the first half, featuring a 34-point outburst in the second quarter to take a 48-0 lead into the break.
The Panthers moved the ball well behind the legs and arm of sophomore quarterback, Gabe Williams, but were stymied by six costly turnovers. In return, the Admirals’ offense scored touchdowns on all seven first-half possessions. The Admirals were led offensively by quarterbacks Adam Fulton and Jake Evans. The duo combined to pass for 371 yards and five touchdowns on 14-of-20 passing.
Lenoir City received the opening kickoff and moved the ball into the Farragut red zone, but the Admirals’ senior DE Will Everett stripped the ball away from RB Zane Bowen to end the threat.
The Admirals began their first possession at their own 12-yard line and marched 88 yards in eight plays to take an early 7-0 lead. The drive was capped by a 37-yard TD strike from Fulton to WR Braden Collins. Collins finished the night with four receptions for 68 yards and the one TD.
The Panthers gained 35 yards on eight plays on their next possession. The drive stalled when a third-down pass was broken up by CB Grayson Utterback. Zane Bowen, who doubles as the Panthers’ punter, came in and booted a 39-yard punt to pin the Admirals deep in their own territory.
Starting from their own five yard-line, Farragut once again moved the ball behind the arm of Fulton and the running of RB Amon Johnson. Johnson gained 14 yards on the first play to move the ball out to the 19. Fulton hit Collins with an 11-yard pass to set up a 70-yard scoring strike to WR Jaden Gibbs. The sophomore WR ended the night with 3 receptions for 153 yards and 2 TD’s. The Admirals were ahead 14-0 after the first quarter.
Following another Lenoir City punt, the Admirals began their next drive from their own 36 yard-line. The offense covered 64 yards in five plays, capped by Fulton’s third TD pass of the night. This one covering 29 yards to fellow senior, Jack DeVault. The Admirals featured RB Isaiah Gibbs on the drive, the sophomore rushed twice for 22 yards.
The Admirals intercepted Lenoir City on the next possession when OLB Alex Williams stepped in front of Landon Miller on first down.
Amon Johnson carried on the next play for 21 yards down to the 3-yard-line. Amon capped the drive with a short TD run. The senior RB led the team in rushing with 98 yards on eight carries and two touchdowns. The Admirals were up 28-0 with 9:48 left in the half.
The Panthers once again moved the ball into Farragut territory, but QB Williams’ pass fell incomplete on fourth-down to end the drive. The Admirals took over at their own 29, and RB Cooper Hardin carried 11 yards for a first down to start the drive. Fulton was 3-of-4 passing for 39 yards on the drive, while Hardin carried in a short TD run to build the FHS lead to 35-0 with 2:52 left to play.
The Panthers fumbled on the ensuing kickoff when LB Cade Burkey stripped the ball out of the hands of the returner.
Junior DB Andrew Williams jumped on top of the ball to set up the Admirals in great field position. The Admirals needed just one play as Johnson took a hand-off and darted in from 25 yards out.
Lenoir City moved the ball to mid-field on their next possession before they were forced to punt. The Admirals took over from their own 16-yard line with reserve QB Jake Evans behind center. The sophomore found WR Wyatt Lucas on second-down for 19 yards to move the ball out near mid-field.
Evans found Grayson Utterback wide open over the middle on the next play, and the junior WR raced in from 57 yards to end the first-half scoring.
The Admirals continued to find big scoring plays in the second-half as Evans hit Jaden Gibbs in stride for a 71-yard TD pass in the third quarter. The sophomore QB was 4-of-6 passing for 159 yards and two touchdowns.
The Admirals’ reserves on defense forced three more turnovers in the second-half to set up the offense with short scoring drives. Junior DL Nolan Davis pounced on a Panther fumble, as did sophomore LB Josh Moses. Moses later cashed in his own recovery with a 1-yard TD run. RB Isaiah Gibbs was able to score from 14-yards out following the Davis fumble recovery. Sophomore DB Jon Buell ended the game with an interception. Freshman QB Gavin Wilkinson logged valuable playing time and led the offense on two scoring drives.
Overall, the Admirals out-gained the Panthers 582-to-236 in total offense, and gained a season-high 24 first downs. Five Admirals combined to rush for 211 yards on 35 carries and five touchdowns. Other highlights included Joe Doyle’s play in the kicking game. The senior P/PK was perfect, 6-for-6, on PAT’s, and sent seven of his 11 kickoffs in the end zone for touchbacks. Doyle also punted once for 44 yards.
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to checkout CRFOTO.com every week 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.
The Admirals must now turn their attention to the South-Doyle Cherokees as the Admirals return home to play for the first time since September 16th. South-Doyle is 4-4 on the season with impressive wins over West, 22-10, and Carter, 50-36, and narrowly falling at Halls, 39-37, in a shootout. Kickoff is set for 7:30 pm on the 21st at Bill Clabo Field. To read more on this upcoming matchup CLICK HERE.
OFFICIAL GAME STATS
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