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Fayette stops Salisbury 63-12

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 10/17/20

By the end of the first half of Friday's game with Salisbury, Fayette was dominating both the rushing battle and the scoreboard.

The Falcons averaged over 13 yards per carry on the way to a …

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Fayette stops Salisbury 63-12

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By the end of the first half of Friday's game with Salisbury, Fayette was dominating both the rushing battle and the scoreboard.

The Falcons averaged over 13 yards per carry on the way to a 44-point halftime lead and a 63-12 win in the final home game of the regular season.

“The offensive line played the best game I think that we have all year,” said senior center Zane Rice.

“Everyone was communicating well. We were hitting our blocks, the linemen were getting down field. We just played a really good game, and we’ve got Garren Vroman back there, so that’s a boost.”

Vroman carried 12 times in the first half and had over 200 of Fayette’s 302 first-half rushing yards. He finished with 228 yards and four touchdowns.

“It was nice,” Rice said about the offensive performance. “It feels nice after struggling, it definitely boosts our confidence going into districts and the end of the season.”

On the defensive side, Fayette held the Panthers to a rushing total of negative nine yards on 16 carries.

“We just came out aggressive,” said senior linebacker Aaron Barber. “We had a great week of practice.

“That’s one thing we’ve struggled with throughout the season, having bad weeks. We came in focused. We came in and just got low, put our pads down and just kept going.”

The Falcons allowed a season-high 212 passing yards, 65 of which came on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Quarterback Grant Biere found Jackson King for the big play and gave Salisbury a 6-0 lead just seconds in.

The Falcons responded quickly. Kaden Polson returned the kickoff 33 yards to midfield and Ben Wells connected with Zach Henderson for 36 yards on Fayette’s first play. Vroman carried the ball 15 yards to the one-yard line and the third play of the drive was a touchdown rush for Henderson.

“For us to come back, get a big play right off the bat and then go down and score, and not have any mistakes that kept us from scoring, that was big,” coach Mike Thompson said.

After a turnover on downs, Fayette’s second drive was just two plays. Vroman’s 51-yard carry put Fayette ahead 14-6 just three-and-a-half minutes into the game.

Kaden Polson had a 26-yard reception that put the Falcons up 27-6 in the first quarter.

Fayette turned the ball over early in the second quarter, but an intentional grounding call backed the Panthers up inside the five. Salisbury was unable to handle the punt snap and gave Fayette two points with a safety.

Cody Hilgedick had a 27-yard reception on the ensuing 36-yard touchdown drive, which put Fayette ahead 37-12.

Hilgedick, a senior, had at one point decided to give up football for the season, but he later had a change of heart.

“I watched a game and I missed it really bad,” he explained. “I wanted to come back and be back on the field. My senior year, I wanted to finish out strong.”

After allowing two touchdowns through the air in the first quarter, the Falcons shut out Salisbury over the final three quarters and took a 56-12 lead on a pick six from Dillan Lembke.

“The D-line started getting pressure on (the quarterback),” Hilgedick said. “And we talked about getting over a little more and fixed our coverage to where it was a little bit easier on us.”

Ben Wells completed eight of 14 passes for 148 yards. Henderson caught two passes for 76 yards. Polson had a rushing touchdown, a 26-yard touchdown reception, and 77 yards on three kickoff returns.

Defensively, Chase Allen had two sacks and forced an intentional grounding penalty. Lembke and Avery Powell each had six tackles.

Quarterback Cale Hudson had a 41-yard touchdown carry in the fourth quarter. Tyler Bartholomew was 4-7 extra-point attempts and Cash Valencia was 1-1.

The Falcons were without Josh Henderson, who had a season-ending surgery. Robert Saunders made the start at right tackle and Fayette finished with 389 rushing yards on 31 carries.

“I think we’ll look at the film, and we’ll kind of know if we’re going to the right spot, and how is our pad level,” Thompson said about the offensive line situation.

“I think we’ll have a better idea after we look at film and see how they performed together without Josh. And then maybe next week we’ll get enough experience that we can kind of jell at the right time with what we have.”

The 51-point win over Salisbury (0-8) is Fayette’s largest margin of victory since a 60-6 win over Slater in the 2018 postseason.

“I think it probably helps build our confidence,” Thompson said. “If we can improve our play from this week to next week and keep cutting our mistakes down and build on that confidence, I think we’re set up pretty good going into district play.”

Fayette improves to 4-4 heading into the final game of the season at Knox County (2-5) on Friday.

Scoring summary:

SAL: Jackson King 65 yd pass from Grant Biere 0-6
FAY: Zach Henderson 1 yd Rush (Tyler Brtholomew kick) 7-6
FAY: Garren Vroman 51 yd rush (Bartholomew kick) 14-6
FAY:  Vroman 2 yd rush (Bartholomew kick) 21-6
FAY: Kaden Polson 26 yd pass from Ben Wells 27-6
SAL: Grant Biere 15 yd pass from Jackson King 27-12
FAY: Safety 29-12
FAY: Vroman 4 yd rush (Vroman 2-point rush) 37-12
FAY: Polson 6 yd rush 43-12
FAY: Garren Vroman 67 yd rush (Bartholomew kick) 50-12
FAY: Dillan Lembke 38 yd int return 56-12
FAY: Cale Hudson 41 yd rush (Cash Valencia Kick) 63-12

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