Dragons Decide to “Wing it” Another Way

Fairland outscores Marauders, 48-43
By JIM WALKER/Tribune Sports Editor


PROCTORVILLE — The Fairland Dragons like to “wing it” out of their spread formation. On Friday, they decided to “wing it” another way.



The Dragons used the spread formation to score 20 points in the first half, but switched to the single-wing in the second half and rallied to outscore the Meigs Marauders 48-43.



“We had decent success running from spread. At halftime I just had a gut feeling,” said Fairland coach Brent Wilcoxon.



“We haven’t established the single-wing and we did a better job the second half. We really hurt them in the second half.



The single-wing formation helped generate 333 rushing yards with senior running back Jordan Kersey rushing for a career-high 283 yards on 20 carries and four touchdowns.



“Kersey ran really, really hard and our offensive line did a really good job. It was a good combination,” said Wilcoxon.



The offensive line of center Eric Salyers, guards Spencer Baise and Tyler Thackston, tackles Nathan Casey and Zach Ferguson, and tight ends Michael Lamb and Scott Prislipsky helped produce 585 total yards.



Although Fairland (2-3) had a big offensive production, the defense allowed 504 total yards including 355 through the air.



Part of the reason was the absence of starting defensive back Tyler.



“We just didn’t cover guys two or three times. We had some new guys and we were trying some new things,” said Wilcoxon.



Meigs’ standout running back Cornelius English had 150 yards on 23 carries, but quarterback Aaron Story was 15 of 26 for 355 yards and an interception.



Kersey ran 29 yards early in the first quarter and Nate Burcham added a pair of field goals to put Fairland up 12-0. English had a 7-yard scoring run to get Meigs (3-2) withing 12-7 at the end of the quarter.



The Marauders took over at that point and scored the next three touchdowns and build a 28-12 lead.



English ran one yard for a score, Jeremy Smith returned an interception 48 yards, and Story hit Jacob Well with a 45-yard scoring pass.



The Dragons cut the deficit to 28-20 on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cole Hatfield to Lamb with just 31 seconds left in the half.



Kersey bolted 64 yards for a touchdown to start the second half scoring, but Meigs countered with a 41-yard TD pass from Story to Well.



Fairland took control with a 4-yard scoring run by Kersey just before the end of the quarter and it was 35-33.



The Dragons took the lead for good at 41-35 on a 25-yard scoring pass from Hatfield to Chad Fisher and Kersey’s conversion run. Kersey then ran 53 yards for a touchdown and Burcham added the conversion with 4:11 left.



English had a 3-yard scoring run with 1:25 left to set the final score.



Meigs 7 21 7 8 = 43
Fairland 12 8 13 15 = 48


First Quarter

Fa — Jordan Kersey 29 run (pass fail) 7:38

Fa — Nate Burcham 23 field goal 4:55

Fa — Burcham 27 field goal 1:08

Me — Cornelius English 7 run (Mason Metts kick) 0:02



Second Quarter

Me — English 1 run (Metts kick) 6:06

Me — Jeremy Smith 48 interception return (Metts kick) 5:00

Me — Jacob Well 45 pass from Aaron Story (Metts kick) 1:58

Fa — Michael Lamb 20 pass from Cole Hatfield (Kersey pass from Hatfield) 0:31


Third Quarter



Fa — Kersey 64 run (run failed) 7:19

Me — Well 41 pass from Story (Metts kick) 5:04

Fa — Kersey 4 run (run failed) 0:51


Fourth Quarter


Fa — Chad Fisher 25 pass from Hatfield (Kersey run) 8:26


Fa — Kersey 53 run (Burcham kick) 4:11


Me — English 3 run (Well pass from Story) 1:25


—————


Mgs -- Fa


First downs 15 15


Rushes-yards 37-149 39-333

Passing yards 355 252


Total yards 504 585


Cmp-Att-Int 15-26-1 17-23-1


Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-1


Penalties-yards 4-27 5-35


—————


Individual Leaders


RUSHING—Meigs: Cornelius English 23-150, Jeremy Smith 3-22, Cory Hutton 1-0, Aaron Story 11-minus 23; Fairland: Jordan Kersey 20-283, Matt Bloomfield 9-25, Blayne Cornwell 2-10, Cole Hatfield 7-15.


PASSING—Meigs: Aaron Story 15-26-1 355; Fairland—Aaron Story 15-26-1 149; Fairland: Cole Hatfield16-22-1 239, Chad Fisher 1-1-0 14.


RECEIVING—Meigs: Jacob Well 10-226, Cory Hutton 1-57, Clay Bolin 1-25, Austin Dunfee 1-21, Jake Barnes 1-11; Fairland: Michael Lamb 7-94, Aaron Ward 3-43, Jordan Kersey 1-36, Chad Fisher 3-54, Matt Bloomfield 3-25.





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