The Fayette Falcons showed bright spots in their season debut at Carrollton on Friday but continually sputtered on both sides of the ball, falling to the Trojans 34-14.

It marked the first win for Carrollton since October 7, 2022. Fayette had won the previous two openers against the Trojans.

“We just didn’t make plays and didn’t capitalize,” said Fayette’s second-year coach Kole Hinton.

It appeared that Fayette would make it a third straight win with a powerful opening drive thanks to running back Carter Vroman. The junior exploded past the Trojans defense on the first play from scrimmage for 57 yards, making it all the way to the 6-yard line, before punching it in two plays later to go up 6-0 just 66 seconds into the game.

But the Falcons could not capitalize on two Carrollton turnovers in the first half. Instead, the Trojans found their footing late in the first quarter. In the final two players of the period, Carrollton converted on fourth down on the Falcons 10-yard line. A minute into the second quarter, the Trojans evened the score at 6-6 on a two-yard run by junior Casey Hudgens.

Fayette found itself behind the sticks on its next drive, which resulted in a short punt that gave Carrollton possession on the Falcons’ 30-yard line.

The Trojans took advantage of the short field and found the end zone with a seven-yard pass from quarterback Luke Backes to senior Kaine Gibson to go up 12-0.

The Trojans made it a two-score game before heading into halftime with a 14-yard pass reception, again by Gibson. A successful two-point conversion made it 20-6 at the break.

“In the second quarter, we had probably the worst drive I’ve seen of our team in two months,” Hinton said. “We had a penalty, and then we got tackled in the backfield, and then we threw the ball in the dirt and all that stuff, and then it just looked real bad like last year.”

Carrollton almost went up by three touchdowns, but Fayette sophomore Ky Cunningham intercepted a Trojan pass at the 10-yard line before returning it to midfield. With under two seconds left, Fayette could not score before the break.

“We didn’t really like what we saw, but what we talked about at halftime, we said, ‘Hey, we’ve got to make a conscious choice of, can we go out and make a change Can we be better?’ I think we did the second half.”

An interception halted Carrollton’s opening drive of the third quarter. Fayette junior D’andre Kioh made the pick before he was brought down at the 9-yard line. But once again, Fayette could not take advantage. With only nine yards to the end zone, Fayette coughed up a fumble, returning possession to Carrolton at the 16-yard line.

The Falcons showed their potential midway through the third quarter. Facing a fourth-and-five situation, sophomore starting quarterback Ledgyr Conrow kept the drive alive with a six-yard keeper for a fresh set of downs. On the next play, he darted Colten Cross who ran to the 15-yard line.

Fayette then put the ball in the capable hands of Vroman, who capped off the drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.

Conrow then found junior full back Jaron Cross on the right side of the end zone for the two-point conversion, bringing the Falcons within six points of the lead.

Fayette nearly tied the game, but the Trojans broke up a pass from Conrow to Jaron Cross on fourth down just 12 yards shy of the goal line.

Hinton said Carrollton’s adjustment to a 4-3 defense overpowered his line.

“We just don’t have the line up front that can help with that because we’re small. And we don’t have the receivers that can quite do that,” he explained. “We just didn’t have enough of the big-play things because they wanted it more than us in the first half. In the second half, we just couldn’t string quite enough together, and we just didn’t make plays.”

Carrollton would go on to score twice more in the fourth quarter less than two minutes apart. A one-yard touchdown run by Hudgens gave the Trojans some breathing room, 26-14. They broke the game open with 4:26 left on the clock with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Gibson. The two-point conversion made the score 34-14. A final interception by Carrollton linebacker Hudgens with under three minutes to play all but ended Fayette’s chances.

Despite the loss, Hinton said he was pleased with his sophomore quarterback. Conrow finished 9-for-21 for 83 yards with a two-point conversion pass and two interceptions. And while those numbers aren’t the prettiest, he insists a lot of factors were at play.

“Ledgyr played better than I thought,” Hinton said. “The 9/21 looks poor, but the wide receivers and some offensive line play didn’t help him. So I’m happier than I thought with his performance.”

Conrow connected with senior running back Micah Estes four times for 29 yards, including a 12-yard catch and run. Also out of the backfield was Jaron Cross, with two grabs for 18 yards and a two-point conversion reception.

Conrow also hit sophomore Colton Cross, Vroman, and senior wide receiver Kaleb Friebe once.

The Falcons running game picked up 151 yards, compared to 221 for Carrollton. Vroman had his first triple-digit rushing game of the season with 131 yards on 14 carries and both of Fayette’s touchdowns. Estes picked up 14 yards on seven carries, followed by Jaron Cross with 13 yards on three touches.

Carrollton’s offense outpaced Fayette by nearly 100 yards with 20 more plays on the night. The Trojans converted five of 15 third downs and four out of six times on fourth down. Fayette only had one each on 10 third-down chances and six on fourth down.

Fayette turned the ball over three times, compared to four by the Trojans. And much like last year’s team, Fayette was hurt by penalties. The Falcons drew nine flags, backing them up 68 yards, compared to six penalties for 44 yards by Carrollton. 

The Falcons will have to put in the work this week in preparation for their home opener on Friday against Class 2 Father Tolton Regional Catholic.

“What type of a team we are is how quickly we can readjust, get rid of the loss, and focus on doing something different,” Hinton said.

Fayette has lost the last two matchups against the Trailblazers, including a 56-point shutout last season.

“They’re a completely different team,” Hinton said. “They’re not a wing T, run the ball down your throat. They’re a five wide, four wide, spread, inside zone type of thing.”

Fr. Tolton lost its home opener 30-0 to Forsyth on Friday. 

Friday’s game kicks off at 7 p.m. at Thomas S. Davis Memorial Field.