Dragons pass physical test from Hornets, clinch playoff spot

PROCTORVILLE — Physical defensive play and explosive offensive plays were the theme of the night for the Fairland Dragons, as they held off the upset-minded Coal Grove Hornets for a 33-22 win in a Ohio Valley Conference game on Friday night at a rain-soaked Jim Mayo Memorial Stadium.

Dragons head coach Ron Wooten knew that his team would be in for a physical, playoff-like test from Coal Grove and felt his players passed that test on Friday.

"You know what Coal Grove is and they run a great program. Coach Lucas always has his kids playing hard and physical. We knew we had a challenge in front of us and our guys rose to the occasion. You're always proud as a coach when a good week of practice and a great effort pays off."

Xander Collins had just 8 carries but was a one-man highlight reel with 211 rushing yards and electric touchdown runs of 76, 68 and 27 yards. Likewise, Kylan Blake was the workhorse of the offense with 16 carries for 116 yards and a score.

It was certainly a game that would've made the likes of former coaches Roger Snyder and Dave Lucas proud, as both teams combined to run the ball 82 times on the night and attempted just 3 passes. Fairland wound up out-gaining the Hornets 334 to 282 in rushing yards in the game.

In the first, the Hornets took the opening kickoff and put together a vintage Coal Grove drive of 12 plays and used up just over 6 minutes before scoring on a two-yard touchdown run from Case Webb to take an early 6-0 lead.

Fairland would answer with their longest drive of the night, an 8-play drive that ended with a 23-yard burst from Blake off the right side and down the far sideline. Connor Kazee added the extra point to make it 7-6 with 1:56 in the first.

Coal Grove got a huge play on its next drive when Truitt Fields scrambled on a fourth down play and ran for 37 yards to the Fairland 7.

On the next play, Gauge Craft scored from 7 yards out and ran in the two-point conversion try to put the Hornets back ahead 14-7 just over a minute into the second quarter.

Fairland would answer on their ensuing drive with another explosive play, this time it would be the first of several from Collins.

Collins took a handoff going right, bounced out to the outside and pin-balled off three defenders and out ran 2 more en route to a 76-yard touchdown run. Kazee added the extra point to even it back up at 14-all.

Coal Grove would march right back down the field behind big runs of 15, 13 and 17 yards by Webb to set the Hornets up with 1st-and-goal at the Fairland 8.

But the Dragon defense that had bent for nine plays would not break for the final four.

On 4th-and-goal, Webb would get the handoff and find a hole to his left, but a combined effort by Collins, Jayden Bell and Ford Rickard made the stop at the 1 for a turnover on downs.

Fairland would manage to run the clock out and keep the game tied at the break.

On the surface, the stop kept Coal Grove (2-7, 2-3 OVC) from possibly taking the lead into the locker room. But Wooten felt it was the key moment in the game when the momentum began to swing in their direction.

"I thought the stop we got right before halftime is what started everything. We told them at the half we're coming back out, we get the ball, go score and get a stop.

The Dragons (6-3, 4-1) got the ball out first out of halftime and needed just two plays to get into the end zone and take the lead for good.

Collins took another handoff straight ahead and broke through the first level of defenders and raced his way 68 yards to put Fairland ahead 20-14 just one minute into the third frame.

Coal Grove tried to answer on their opening possession and moved the ball as if they would. After a big run from Craft to get the Hornets past midfield, the drive would come to a halt when the Dragons popped the ball free on a second down play and Rickard came up with the ball.

Hornets coach Jay Lucas felt the turnover was the play that took the wind out of his teams' sail.

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The turnover turned into points for the Dragons six plays later when Collins scored his final rushing score on a sweep to the left and went up the sideline to extend the Dragons lead out to 26-14.

Fairland would add to their lead even further when Kinyon Smith stepped into a throw and lofted a pass to Rickard down the sideline and Rickard walked his way in for a 43-yard strike to make it 33-14 after three quarters.

The Hornets would make a comeback attempt in the fourth, getting some big runs of 24 yards from Fields and 19 from Craft during their ensuing drive. Fields would punch it in from 3 yards out and then run in the two-point conversion to make it 33-22 with 7:25 remaining.

Coal Grove's would get the bounce needed to recover the onside kick and take over at the Fairland 48.

However, the Dragons would hold the Hornets on four downs to take back over and end any hope of a possible comeback.

"Some of the athletes that we are just fortunate enough to have and the way they're playing right now, we're gonna get some explosive plays out of them," said Wooten. "And especially in a game like this. Possessions and plays are valuable, so it's huge when you can pop off a big play from time to time."

The Hornets were paced offensively by Craft with 124 yards on 19 carries and Webb with 15 carries for 84 yards.

Both teams will be at home next Friday, with Fairland taking on Chesapeake and Coal Grove will entertain Rock Hill.

Coal Grove 6    8    0    8 =  22

Fairland 7 7    19 0  =  33

First Quarter

CG — Case Webb 2 run (run failed), 5:51.

Fa — Kylan Blake 23 run (Connor Kazee kick), 1:56.

Second Quarter

CG — Gauge Craft 7 run (Craft run), 10:52.

Fa — Xander Collins 76 run (Conner Kazee kick), 9:46.

Third Quarter

Fa — Xander Collins 68 run (kick blocked), 11:00.

Fa — Xander Collins 27 run (kick blocked), 5:34.

Fa — Ford Rickard 43 pass from Kinyon Smith (Conner Kazee kick), 0:27.

Fourth Quarter

CG — Truitt Fields 3 run (Fields run), 7:25.

———————

         CG      Fa

First downs  15      10

Rushes-yards   50-282 32-334

Passing yards  0    43

Total yards   282  377

Cmp-Att-Int 0-1-0 1-2-0

Fumbles-lost 2-1    0-0

Penalties-yards 3-20   3-23

Punts-average 0-0.0 1-52.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING — Coal Grove: Case Webb 15-84 TD, Truitt Fields 6-40 TD, Gauge Craft 19-124 TD, Liam White 10-33; Fairland: Kylan Blake 16-116 TD, Christian Bompus 6-16, Xander Collins 8-211 3-TD, Team 2-minus 9.

PASSING — Coal Grove: Truitt Fields 0-1-0 0; Fairland: Kinyon Smith 1-2-0 43 TD.

RECEIVING — Coal Grove: None; Fairland: Ford Rickard 1-43 TD.