FAYETTEVILLE -- Fans and followers of Fayetteville football got an up close and personal look at the finishing touches of another year of spring ball Friday.
Rain moved the scheduled final spring game indoors from Harmon Stadium to the Bulldog Activity and Recreation Center, where a packed crowd lined the outer walls to watch Fayetteville showcase a new up-tempo offense, while at the same time showing off plenty of playmakers on both sides of the ball.
"First of all, to have a facility like this, a big hats off to our administration," Fayetteville coach Daryl Patton said. "Two years ago, if it's raining like this, we just cancel the spring game.
"So to come in here for two hours and have a situational-type scrimmage and get our one's on one's for a little bit in front of a great crowd, it was unbelievable. And just to see our kids get after it and compete play after play on offense and defense, it was just a fun night."
Much of Friday's "Black-Gray" game, with half the team wearing Purple'Dog black alternate jerseys and the other half in alternate grays, was spent with a mixture of starters on both offense and defense squaring off against a mix of different starters and reserves.
The varsity portion of the scrimmage was an offensive highlight reel for most of the evening as Fayetteville displayed its new quick-paced attack in bunches. Both starting quarterback Taylor Powell, who led the Black jerseys, and backup QB Drake Wymer -- who guided the Gray team -- were excited to put the offense to a final spring test.
"I've grown up dreaming about playing in a no-huddle offense," Powell said. "All of the offenses in college like Oklahoma State and TCU that air it out a lot, I've always like those offenses."
Wymer, who led the Gray team to victory in a scoring derby where both teams eclipsed triple digits starting from the opponent 30-yard line on each possession, was plenty busy Friday. Along with his quarterback duties, he also saw time at tight end and wide receiver and could be a valuable threat at each position for the Bulldogs this fall.
"We feel like we have two quarterbacks that we can go in with and win on Friday nights," Patton said. "Taylor and Drake do different things, but we have confidence in both of them."
The sophomore teams also saw action Friday, rotating in between the varsity in alternate quarters before the game closed out with a first team offense against first team defense portion. Powell completed 9 of 11 passes for 103 yards and two touchdowns against the Fayetteville first-team defense.
"Taylor saw a good deal of pressure tonight," Patton said. "When he faced our first team defense, he stepped up and showed why he's one of the best quarterbacks around with some of the throws he made."
Sports on 05/30/2015