FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville scored 31 unanswered points to snap a four-game skid with a 52-14 mercy-rule victory against Rogers High at Harmon Field on Friday.
The Bulldogs' (2-4, 1-2 7A-West) offense kept the chains moving with junior quarterback Darius Bowers serving as the catalyst. He hustled the team up to the line after each play and snapped the ball at a much higher tempo than in recent weeks, which wore down the Mounties' (4-2, 1-2) defense.
CLASS 7A
Fayetteville 52, Rogers High 14
Rogers High^7^7^0^0^—^14
Fayetteville^14^24^14^0^—^52
First Quarter
Fay - Nolen 4 run (Richardson kick), 8:43
Rog - Jones 5 run (Hernandez kick), 5:46
Fay - Morgan 44 pass from Bowers (Richardson kick), 3:59
Second Quarter
Fay - Bowers 2 run (Richardson kick), 6:24
Rog - Jones 42 pass from Loyd (Hernandez kick), 4:11
Fay - Mulinga 79 pass from Bowers (Richardson kick), 3:25
Fay - Gray 41 pass from Bowers (Ricahardson kick), 1:44
Fay - Richardson 43 field goal, :00
Third Quarter
Fay - Gray 50 pass from Bowers (Richardson kick), 9:30
Fay - Flanigan 20 pass from Bowers (Richardson kick), 5:47
"We're playing a lot faster," said Fayetteville coach Billy Dawson. "We're getting it our faster. We're getting it to our guys a little quicker. They were giving us some things that we liked and Darius did a nice job of reading it and taking advantage of it."
Fayetteville only had six rushing plays in the first half and seven in the first 30 minutes. Dawson said Bowers is given the option to run or pass "about 95 percent of the time," and against Rogers High, pass plays were the
Bowers missed on a few deep balls, but otherwise had his best performance as a starter by completing 28 of 35 passes for 387 yards and 5 touchdowns before exiting midway through the third quarter when the clock began running continuously. He also rushed for a touchdown.
The Mountaineers cut the deficit to 21-14 on a 42-yard catch-and-run by Aaron Jones on a pass from Hunter Loyd, but Fayetteville's defense buckled down the rest of the way to force several three-and-outs. That didn't give the Mounties' defense much time to rest with Fayetteville running its hurry-up-no-huddle offense at such a high tempo.
"We were going screen, screen, screen and then a deep ball," Bowers said. "I think we got up to the line and snapped it quicker, and that fast of a pace is tough for a defense to keep up with because we practice it more than they do."
Dawson said getting the ball to "weapons" Cody Gray and Kris Mulinga helped the offense stay in a rhythm. The combined for more than 300 yards and 3 touchdowns, including scores of 41 and 50 yards by Gray. Mulinga, who had a 79-yard touchdown catch, had a season-high 16 receptions for 207 yards.
"We were trying to go at a fast paced to keep the pressure on them," Mulinga said. "We've been working on it more the past two weeks, and we just need to keep this tempo up and keep taking it one game at a time."
Sports on 10/07/2017