After two dramatic road wins, the Fayette County Tigers came home to Tiger Stadium with a lot of confidence. But with starting quarterback Justin Murray still injured and tailback Armani Cato apparently sick, the Tigers could not muster up enough offense to prevent the Northgate Vikings from spoiling the homecoming game, falling 24-7 on a cool and humid Friday night.
During the opening kickoff, Armani Cato lost his lunch, so to speak, near the twenty yard line and was never in the game for more than three consecutive plays the rest of the way. According to teammates, Cato had not been feeling well recently and was suffering from flu-like symptoms.
With the star running back facing limited playing time, Fayette County halfback Kendall Palmore stepped up immediately. During Fayette County’s first drive, Palmore carried the ball three times for 46 yards and helped plant the Tigers deep in Viking territory. The drive eventually stalled out at the Viking 26, and Fayette County’s weakness in the kicking department forced them to attempt an early fourth down conversion. Jensen Floyd’s pass, however, fell incomplete and Northgate took over on downs.
The Vikings, capitalizing on the big fourth down stop, drove the ball 54 yards, to the Fayette County 20, mostly on the ground. The Tigers dodged a bullet, however, as Northgate missed the 37 yard field goal attempt wide right.
On the following possession, the Tigers’ offense stalled out on their own 40. Tago Smith’s punt, however, took a Fayette County bounce and ended up being downed on the two-yard line.
With the Vikings pinned at the two, Fayette County’s defense faltered. On Northgate’s second play of the possession, Cody Gatewood took the ball on a hand off and with the defense fooled by a misdirection fake, burst outside of the left tackle for a gain of 25 yards. Two plays later tailback Payton Usher broke free on a sweep to the right and scored on the ensuing 60 yard rush giving Northgate the lead 7 to 0 with 11:15 left in the half.
After a booming kick-off resulted in a touchback, the Tigers regained possession on their own 20. A quick sack, however, pushed them back to the 9, and on the following play, Northgate safety Freshad Riles intercepted a deep pass intended for Eric Lauderdale, returning possession to the Vikings on the Tiger 40. Five plays later, Cody Gatewood punched the ball across the goal line giving Northgate a two touchdown lead with six minutes left in the half.
After another touchback, Fayette County found an offensive groove as the Tigers managed to put together a 13 play 80 yard drive highlighted by two Kendall Palmore carries for over twelve yards -- the second beginning with a nifty spin move behind the line which transformed an apparent loss into a big gain -- and capped by a five yard touchdown pass from Jensen Floyd to wide receiver Eric Lauderdale. The half ended with Fayette County trailing Northgate 7 to 14.
After a short kick-off by Fayette County to start the second half gave Northgate favorable field position they quickly scored on another big play on the ground. This time, quarterback Toby Slagle found a hole on the inside of the left tackle on a triple-option QB keeper and broke free for a 66 yard TD run.
Fayette County attempted to answer on the next possession. Starting on their own 35 after a 15 yard kick-off return by Jonathan Seldon, the Tigers looked strong. Kendall Palmore added another long run, this time for 15 yards, pushing the tigers into Viking territory. Next, Jensen Floyd scrambled for a gain of 17, putting the Tigers on the opposing 33. From there the Tigers would drive to the two yard line. But right as it looked like Fayette County was engineering another come from behind victory, Northgate lineman Graylin Ward blew past his blocker, and sacked Floyd for a loss of 6, pushing the Tigers back to the eight yard line. From there, Fayette County failed to get into the end zone, eventually turning the ball over on downs again, this time on the Northgate four yard line. With momentum destroyed, the Tigers could only watch helplessly as Northgate added a field goal and put the game out of reach at 24 to 7.
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