The Fayette Falcons traveled to 10th-ranked Salisbury on Friday and came home with a 44-18 loss, as both teams used big plays throughout the night to put their points on the board.

After both teams failed to move the ball much on their initial drives, Fayette punted, pinning Salisbury deep. The Falcon defenders downed the ball on the one-yard line with 5:59 left in the first quarter. 

Salisbury’s offense got going with their second possession, moving the ball on the ground and the air. The drive culminated in a 58-yard touchdown pass for the Panthers as they took a 6-0 lead. Fayette stopped the two-point conversion.

Fayette could not get things going in their next possession, and Salisbury started their next possession on the 27-yard line. Their drive ended with another big play, a 63-yard touchdown run with 11:02 left in the second quarter to take a 12-0 lead.

The Falcons began to move the ball on their next possession, but the Panthers intercepted a Falcon pass and returned it for a touchdown to go up 18-0. The Panthers tacked on two more scores in the period to extend their lead to 32-0 with 4:49 left in the second quarter.

The Falcons refused to quit and put together their best drive of the night, moving the ball down the field with a mix of runs and passes. They gained several first downs, and the drive ended with junior running back Carter Vroman plunging into the end zone with 20 seconds left in the half to cut the score to 32-6.

“Overall, I was disappointed in our execution at the start of the game,” said Fayette coach Kole Hinton. “I thought we had opportunities on offense to score and defense to get stops, and we just didn’t take advantage of them.”

Fayette received the ball to start the third quarter and went to work. The Falcons drove the field, aided by a 35-yard Vroman run and a first-down catch by senior running back Micah Estes. The Panther defense stiffened as Fayette’s sophomore quarterback, Ledgyr Conrow, completed a pass short of the first down. The Panthers took over on the five-yard line.

Salisbury again used the big play, scoring on a 90-yard run to take a 38-6 lead with 7:35 left in the third quarter.

Fayette started their next drive near the 35-yard line and moved the ball 40 yards down the field, but the Panthers ended the drive with an interception. They took advantage of the short field and put up another score and a two-point conversion, taking a 44-6 lead.

The Falcons used two razzle-dazzle plays to close the scoring. The first was a 70-yard half-back pass from Vroman to junior fullback Jaron Cross early in the fourth quarter. The second was the old hook-and-ladder, as Conrow completed a pass to sophomore wide receiver Colten Cross, who pitched the ball to Vroman, who took the ball to the end zone for a 35-yard touchdown.

“Like the Father Tolton game, we came out in the second half and battled more,” Hinton said. “We need to figure out how to bring that at the jump. We have the players we need to be successful. I was excited that we executed the trick plays, but we need to get our regular offense going so we don’t need to rely on them.”

Conrow had a very efficient game passing, completing 11 of 17 passes for 111 yards. He also had two interceptions. Vroman completed one pass for 70 yards and a touchdown.

Leading the receiving corps for the Falcons, Vroman had three receptions for 71 yards, Estes had three for 21 yards, and Jaron Cross had one for 70 yards and a touchdown.

Vroman led the Falcons in rushing, gaining 114 yards on 16 carries. He also had two touchdowns in total. Estes had 15 rushes for 41 yards, and Jaron Cross had four runs for 28 yards.

The loss drops Fayette to 0-3 on the season, while Salisbury moved up to No. 9 in media rankings at 3-0.

Fayette returns home Friday to host another former L&C rival, Westran. The Hornets are 1-2 overall this season after defeating Fulton last week, 35-21, for their first win of the season.

Next week, the Falcons open Central State 8 action at Linn (0-3). It will mark the inaugural game for Fayette, which helped to form the new conference.