FAYETTEVILLE — Fayetteville begins conference play this week kicking and screaming.
Fayetteville is 1-1-1 and hasn't won since Week 1. The Purple Dogs could easily be 3-0 entering its 7A-West Conference opener at home against Bentonville if not forone serious glitch: The kicking game.
Since Drew Patton booted a 48-yard field goal with 9:16 remaining in the third quarter of a 31-0 victory over Little Rock Central at War Memorial Stadium, the Purple Dogs have missed three consecutive field goals. Fayetteville has hit just 1 of 4 field goals this season andeven worse only 4 of 7 extra points. Fayetteville's kicking woes have prompted five two-point conversion tries, only one of which was converted.
"We've got two talented kickers who just aren't getting it done right now," Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. "I think they're worried about too manyother things other than kicking. Whether it's the blocking, the hold or people coming through, they've got to be smarter and better than that. We've got to win the special teams battle and the last two weeks we have not."
Demetrius Dean rumbled in for a two-point con-version after a 13-yard touchdown run by Dylan Hale in the season opener but since that success, the Purple Dogs, much like their field goal conundrum, have failed on four consecutive two-point attempts.
It you're counting, that's 23 points that Fayetteville has failed to put on the scoreboard. A tie and a two-point loss were the results of Fayetteville's failures to capitalize.
"It's definitely hurt us," Patton said. "Once you miss an extra point then you start chasing points the rest of the game. That's not a good situation to be in. You'd sure like to have some of those back."
Will Rosteck is 4 for 6 on point-afters and 0 for 2 on field goals. Drew Patton is 1 of 2 on field goals and 0 for 1 on extra-point attempts. But Fayetteville's predicament isn't all on the kickers' shoulders. Two extra points and one field goal have been blocked by defenders penetrating the backfield via the edges.
By contrast, Fayetteville's opposition has hit on 4 of 4 field goals and 4 of 5 extra points. All four of those field goals were against Russellville and were kicked from 30-plus yards out. One was booted from 52 yards away.
"We didn't ask our guys to outkick Zack Hocker because he will win that battle every week," Patton said. "But when it came time to make a field goal we had to have, we didn't get it done."
Those missed opportunities have been costly. If converted, Fayetteville would be unbeaten.
The Purple Dogs suffered the biggest hit in a 20-18 loss to Jefferson City, Mo., in Week 2. A missed field goal and blocked field goal, a missed extra point, and a pair of failed two-point conversions unraveleddoom for Fayetteville against the Jays.
Drew Patton and Rosteck both had misses against the Jays. Rosteck missed a 28-yard field goal on the Purple Dogs' opening drive. The kick had plenty of distance but sailed wide right.
"It was a pretty good kick and he just missed it," Patton said. "With Drew's we just let a guy in off the edge and it got blocked."
Drew Patton missed an extra point tr y on Fayetteville's first touchdown with 7:46 left in the second quarter and later had a 36-yard field goal blocked at the 11:35 mark of the fourth quarter. That block forced Fayetteville to go for the two-point conversion just to tie the game after quarterback Brandon Allen hit Josh Hale for a 15-yard touchdown pass to erode the margin to 20-18 with 10 seconds left in regulation. The conversion failed.
The kicking dilemma perpetuated in a 26-all tie at home against Russellville last week. Fayetteville missed a field goal and surrendered a blocked extra point on its second touchdown with1:41 left in the first half.
Fayetteville's issues with the extra point team could have factored into Patton's decision to go for two after a 1-yard touchdown run by Dean gave the Purple Dogs a 26-9 lead with 3:24 remaining in the third quarter. The two-point conversion run failed.
"That was my decision and that's what we practiced," Patton said. "They lined up four to our wall and we had the numbers. When we have numbers, we have to get the ball in there. They took the knees out of our wedge and our ball carrier needs to slide right when that happens and he ran right up the gut. They dove at the knees and caused a pile. Instead of sliding right, we run right into the pile."
The Purple Dogs later marched down inside the Cyclones' 20 with 2:34 in left in regulation but a 37-yard field goal by Rosteck that would have given Fayetteville a 29-26 edge sailed wide left.
"I think Will rushed it a little bit from looking at film," Patton said. "I think he rushed it and pulled it just a little bit."
Sports, Pages 9, 10 on 09/22/2009