Fort Frye pulls away from Caldwell for 44-7 win
Trending
By Mike Morrison
Sports Writer
CALDWELL -- Football can sometimes be a game of inches and is almost always a game of momentum.
Caldwell came up an inch short and then lost the momentum they had for nearly the whole first half en route to a 44-7 loss to the visiting Fort Frye Cadets Friday night in a game that was much closer than the final score indicated.
The Redskins held a 7-0 lead late in the first half and appeared to have possibly stopped the Cadets short of a first down on a fourth down run by Austin Powell that would have sent them to the locker room with the halftime lead.
The run was close enough to measure and the Cadets were awarded the first down by what appeared to be less than an inch.
Three plays later the Cadets had evened things up when sophomore quarterback Clayton Miller connected with senior Zaiden Huck over the top for a 10-yard touchdown to tie the score at 7-7.
Caldwell quickly established momentum in the game when quarterback Cale Bender connected with Dylan Wheeler on a 22-yard pass completion to open the game and followed that up with a 40-yard catch-and-run to Wheeler once again who raced into the end zone to give the Redskins the early lead.
Both teams played stellar defense for the majority of the first half and the Cadets closed out the second quarter when Miller intercepted Bender's pass in the end zone as the half expired.
Trying to regain some of the momentum they lost at the end of the half the Redskins used a bit of trickery to open the second as senior Colby Langley recovered an onside kick at the Fort Frye 48-yard line to put the ball right back into the hands of his offense.
After Bender ran twice for 28-yards to move the ball just inside the Redskins 20-yard line, Braxton Brown intercepted a Bender pass at the 11 and raced 65-yards down the sidelines before being caught and tackled by a hustling Marshal Sayre to give the Cadets the ball at the Redskin 20-yard line.
Two plays later the Cadets took advantage of the Caldwell miscue when Owen Brown rambled into the end zone on a 15-yard carry to give the Fort their first lead of the game.
Things slowly began to unravel for the Redskins as they went three-and-out on their next possession and then were forced to take a safety when the snap back to Bender who is also the Caldwell punter sailed way over his head and out of the end zone.
Fort Frye took over possession at their own 46-yard line and eight plays later were in the end zone again on an Owen Brown two-yard run to push the lead to 22-7.
Though Owen Brown capped the drive, Braxton Brown made the play of the game when he made a spectacular diving catch on a pass from Miller that was good enough for 29-yards.
"Clayton Miller threw the ball really well in the second half and Braxton Brown made three amazing catches ," said Huck. "We had several guys really step up when we needed them to."
Things went from bad to worse for the Skins as Morgan Smith recovered a Caldwell fumble near midfield and once again it would be the Browns who did the damage as Braxton hauled in a 34-yard pass from Miller and Owen finished it off with an 7-yard run and the rout was on.
Fort Frye got fourth quarter touchdowns from Ethan Duskey and Austin Powell to cap the scoring as they improved their season record to 7-1.
Miller led the way for the Cadets as the sophomore signal-caller completed 7-of-11 pass attempts for 123 yards and the touchdown.
"They were putting pressure on him (Miller) to have to throw the ball and we opened things up and he did a great job of making some really nice throws, said Huck. "He definitely has some growing to do still but I love the way he is progressing."
Powell led the Cadets in rushing with 10 carries for 72-yards while Owen Brown gained 59 on 13 tries.
Braxton Brown hauled in 4 receptions for 78.
Sayre led the Redskins with 118 yards on 13 rushes while Bender gained 57 yards on 10 touches.
The loss was the first of the season for the Redskins (7-1) and left second-year head coach Chance Rucker wondering what could have been if a few things would have went their way.
"We definitely got some good learning points but we hadn't really battled adversity this year and we just can't let the wheels fall off whenever we get punched in the mouth," said Rucker. "Take nothing away from Fort Frye because they are top five in the state for a reason but we've just got to keep going and shoot for 9-1 and a long playoff run."
Huck was pleased with the adjustments his team was able to make in the second half.
"We fixed some things at halftime and I was really proud of the kids the way they remained calm," said Huck. "Our guys stepped up and got the job done."
The Cadets will remain on the road next week when they head of Logan while Caldwell will host North Baltimore.