Fayetteville spoils LaFayette’s homecoming
BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — As the culmination of homecoming week at LaFayette High School, the Friday night football game was full of pomp and pageantry.
Cars lined both sides of Alabama Avenue, hundreds of tailgaters randomly shot off fireworks and enjoyed the pregame festivities and fashionable young men and women gathered at midfield in sequined outfits during halftime to learn who was on the homecoming court.
However, the rest of the evening didn’t quite match as a light drizzle and Presley Duke’s four total touchdowns gave Fayetteville High School (1-2, 1-0) a 39-19 road victory over the Bulldogs (1-3, 0-2) at Bulldog Stadium on Sept. 11.
Demetrius Harrington kept the Bulldogs within striking distance through the air, throwing for 169 yards and two TDs while going 11-for-20.
Kemare Harrington was his favorite target, catching six passes for 107 yards, while Jaden Lacey paced LaFayette’s ground game with 57 yards and a TD on three carries and Jeremiah Whitlow added 49 yards on a team-high 13 attempts.
Eli Burns finished with 126 yards on four catches to lead all receivers for the Wolves. Brett Kelley complemented Duke in the backfield with 79 yards on 11 carries, and Jet Liner contributed 76 yards and a TD on 14 attempts.
In total, Fayetteville outgained LaFayette 431-272 in total yards and piled up 283 on the ground.
On a night full of celebratory undertones, LaFayette head coach Douglas Jones Jr. was left to rue a first half undone by self-inflicted mistakes after he said his team failed to uphold its end of the bargain.
“It’s good, but it’s just sour without a win. We shot ourselves in the foot all in the first half: special teams, not staying home defensively, not being in our right spots,” Jones said. “We turned it on in the second half, [but] it was too late. I know about the festivities, but I’m here to win games, and that’s just very frustrating. But at the end of the day, I’ve got to put my big boy pants on, and [my players] have to do it too. We’ve got to just go on to the next [game].”
The Bulldogs struggled to sustain drives against a Fayetteville defense that limited LaFayette to 103 yards rushing on 19 total attempts.
Penalties also dogged both sides throughout, as the Wolves and Bulldogs were each flagged repeatedly for personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct.
At the same time, Duke controlled the game on the ground and through the air for Fayetteville. He rushed for 126 yards and three TDs on 20 carries and completed 5 of 11 passes for 148 yards and another TD.
He put the Wolves ahead to stay on the game’s opening possession, breaking free for a 30-yard scoring run.
Fayetteville seized command with a burst of 21 unanswered points, aided by a special-teams edge that kept the ball out of LaFayette’s hands.
The Wolves recovered an onside kick twice in the first quarter, each time denying the Bulldogs a chance to answer.
Duke added a 22-yard TD run, and Liner broke off a 16-yard scoring run after the second onside recovery gave Fayetteville the ball at the LaFayette 29.
The Wolves converted each of their first three extra points to lead 21-0.
Jones traced the early hole in part to those special-teams lapses.
“We weren’t being alert. We tell them all the time that the front line has to stay put and be alert because anything can happen,” Jones said. “On the first one we left before the ball was kicked, and on the other one it was just bad fielding. We’ve got to get on the ball and just be alert.”
LaFayette found its footing in the second quarter, when Lacey sprinted 36 yards for a TD and the point-after trimmed the deficit to 21-7.
However, Fayetteville answered before the break, driving for a short TD run by Ty Stone that made it 27-7 at halftime.
The Bulldogs then opened the third quarter with a response, pulling within 27-13 on Demetrius Harrington’s 6-yard TD pass to Zaquarius Jackson. A two-point conversion attempt failed, and LaFayette would get no closer.
Fayetteville reasserted itself in a hurry. Duke found Burns for a 26-yard TD, and then later produced the game’s most disputed play: a 48-yard scoring run on which the ball appeared to come loose near the goal line before officials signaled a TD.
It was a call that drew an animated protest from the LaFayette sideline, and the score pushed the Wolves in front 39-13 and put the outcome effectively out of reach.
Kentavious Cobb hauled in a 26-yard TD pass from Demetrius Harrington in the closing minutes to set the final margin.
The lone blemish on an otherwise commanding night for the Wolves was their kicking game. After making their first three extra points, they missed their next three.
With a matchup against bitter rivals Lanett High School on the horizon, Jones said his team needed to focus on correcting several mistakes.
“We’ve got to align right, get the [play] sign right and do what is asked of you play after play,” Jones said. “We can’t be Superman and try to do someone else’s job. We’ve got to do our job. That’s it. But I love those guys. I want the best for them. We’re going to try to figure it out.”
After playing in two straight Class 1A Region 6 games, the Bulldogs will get a much needed rest with a bye week on Friday, Sept. 18.
LaFayette’s next game is a road trip to Lanett to face the Panthers (2-2) in a non-region contest at Morgan-Washburn Stadium on Sept. 25. Lanett is coming off a 34-6 road win over Class 2A Region 4 foe Ranburne High School (2-1).
