Farragut Press by Bill Howard, Correspondent
After an 0-2 start, Farragut High School’s football team was looking to right the ship Friday night, Sept. 5, in its home opener against Knoxville West, ranked No. 3 statewide by Tennessee Sports Writers Association among Division I-5A teams, in Eddie Courtney Stadium on Bill Clabo Field.
The Admirals are still looking for their first win.
Behind a steady offense and an opportunistic defense — three interceptions thwarted Admirals drives — the Runnin’ Rebels handily defeated Farragut 38-3. FHS fell to 0-3, while West improved to 2-1.
“They’re great on defense at creating turnovers,” said Admirals first-year each coach Geoff Courtney. “They were really capitalizing on some of the things we were trying to do. They make it so tough for you in the red zone.”
West head coach Lamar Brown was surprised by the game’s one-sidedness. “This game historically is a dogfight to the end,” he said. “I was really proud of our kids, they came to play.”
The Runnin’ Rebels struck early in the game when Antwain Burdine fielded Farragut’s game-opening punt on his own 49 and galloped to the FHS 2. Running back Anterius McAllister took it in on the next play with 10:07 left.
With 5:31 left in the first, the Admirals took over and drove from their own 35 to West’s 20. Ryan McCue’s 36-yard field goal cut it to 7-3 with under three minutes left.
But little went right for Farragut the rest of the half. Three more possessions resulted in a pair of three-and-outs, plus an interception by Burdine.
The Runnin’ Rebels got second-quarter touchdowns on a 3-yard keeper by quarterback Parker Dubon with 5:53 left, and a 6-yard scoring pass from Dubon to David Drata with a mere six ticks left on the first-half clock.
A critical play in the game came late in the third quarter. Down 28-3 and badly needing momentum, FHS got a big play when outside linebacker Kent Carbaugh made his second pick of Dubon, putting the Admirals in business on West’s 31.
On first down from the 15, however, sophomore quarterback Corbin Hobson was intercepted by linebacker Jack Keith on the West 4. Keith then took it 96 yards up the left sideline for a 35-3 lead.
“He’s got a knack for always being around the football,” Brown said of Keith.
“We were trying to scrap and claw and get back in the game, but those big plays broke our back,” Courtney said.
Carbaugh was everywhere on defense, making tackles along with the two picks. Hobson and Noah Haag combined for 90 yards on 12 completions in 21 attempts.
“He’s a difference-maker,” Courtney said of Carbaugh. “Very athletic, great football player.”
Courtney was asked if he worried about the effect an 0-3 record would have on his team’s morale.
“We’ll bounce back,” he said. “Not worried about morale, we have a lot of pride and commitment.”
The Admirals open Region 2-6A play Friday night, Sept. 13, on the road in Cleveland against the unbeaten Blue Raiders (3-0), ranked No. 5 by TSWA statewide among Class 6A teams.
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Check out CRFOTO.com weekly 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.
