The class 5A Central J.A. Fair War Eagles traveled to Panther stadium in Cabot Friday night to face the 7A Central Cabot Panthers for the last time of a four-game series. The Panthers won handily, defeating Fair by a final of 44-0. Cabot turned the ball over twice by fumble in the first quarter, but still led 30-0 at the half. Cabot added two touchdowns in the second half, the first one invoking the Sportsmanship rule, to set the final margin.
The Panthers are now 2-1, losing last week to El Dorado, and defeating Pine Bluff in Week One. Fair remains winless at 0-3.
“They’re down,” Cabot coach Mike Malham said. “They’ve been on tough times. Everybody got to play. We didn’t really play real sharp early. It took us a while to get going. We turned it over twice to keep them in it the first half. But, we finally got the job done. The second team got to play a couple of series, and the third team got to play. We’ve got a hundred out, and all hundred got in the game tonight. That’s a good thing.”
Cabot had the first possession of the game from the Fair 49-yard line. A run of 14 by T.J. Rogers, runs of 13 by quarterback Tommy Oaks and Adam Flores resulted in a first and goal one the 1-yard line. Rogers took the ball in from there, and Ben McCollough added the extra point for the 7-0 early lead.
On the War Eagles’ first play from scrimmage, quarterback Akeem Gilmore dropped the ball, picked it up and ran for 51 yards. However, a holding penalty and two incomplete passes resulted in a punt.
Cabot’s next possession was fumbled on the second play and recovered by Fair on the Panther 23-yard line. The excellent field position was squandered by two high snaps for a loss of 50 yards, and Cabot got the ball back on the War Eagle 24-yard line. After Rogers carried to the six, another fumble occurred, and Fair had the ball at the one. A tackle in the end zone by Omero Garcia resulted in a safety, and the lead was now 9-0 with 5:22 remaining in the opening quarter.
The ensuing kick off by Fair was returned to the Fair 38-yard line by De’kairo Rudolph. Flores ran for five and 13 yards, then Rogers six yards to the eight. It was Rogers then taking a toss and running it in for the score. McCollough added the point after for the 16-0 advantage.
It was Rogers again on the next Panther possession with a 33-yard touchdown scamper. Again, McCollough added the PAT, and the lead grew to 23-0.
The War Eagles were forced to punt, and Rudolph picked the punt up and returned it to the Fair 27-yard line. With Layton Morris in at quarterback, Graham Turner ran for 19 yards to the one. A penalty backed the Panthers up five, but after a gain of four by Wesley Ocampo, Wyatt McMahan carried the ball in for the score. The point after by McCollough made the lead 30-0 with 5:12 remaining in the half.
A 66-yard punt return by Rudolph was the only score in the third quarter, making the score 37-0.
The final score was set in the final quarter on a 32-yard touchdown run by Jake Long. McCollough added both extra points in the half, and the final margin was set at 44-0.
Cabot had 399 total yards of offense, while holding the War Eagles to 96 yards. Rogers had six carri... Click here to read full article
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