Fuquay-Varina's Cory Hunter (37) ran for 113 yards and a touchdown in the Bengals' 21-19 win Thursday at Holly Springs.
Sep 5, 2008
Holly Springs
Fuquay-Varina sophomore Cory Hunter ran 26 times for 113 and a touchdown in the Bengals’ 21-19 win over Holly Springs on Thursday.
But the most important play he made was on the other side of the ball.
On fourth and 10 from the Fuquay 49-yard line with less than a minute to play, Holly Springs quarterback Mark Collins lofted a pass to receiver Ethan Nunn. Nunn had the ball on his fingertips and plenty of yardage for a first down. But Hunter, also a defensive back, drilled Nunn before he had possession, knocking the ball loose and sealing the win for the Bengals.
“I just saw the tight end come off running the wheel (route),” Hunter said. “Our coaches told us that might happen. I listened to what they said and I just jumped on it.”
While the play set off waves of joy and relief on the Bengals' sideline, it brought up an all too familiar feeling on the other side of the field.
Holly Springs coach Jim Hynus said the Golden Hawks gave the game away. The Golden Hawks squandered the lead twice, had four fumbles lost, missed two extra points and had a kickoff returned for a touchdown negated by a penalty, so it’s hard to argue with Hynus’ assessment.
“We played well enough to win two straight weeks, and the ball’s bouncing the wrong way for us,” said Hynus, whose team is still in search of its first varsity win (0-14 since 2007). “If it ever bounces our way, who knows what can happen for us.”
The worst bounce for the Hawks came moments after they nearly put the game away. Midway through the third quarter, with Holly Springs ahead 19-15, linebacker Michael Humphrey scooped up a fumble at the Fuquay 34-yard line and raced toward the end zone. Fuquay’s Corey Mixon chased down Humphrey and punched the ball loose at the 1-yard line. The ball rolled into the end zone and out of bounds for a touchback, giving the ball back to the Bengals (2-1).
“I just saw him pick it up and I thought, ‘He ain’t scoring. It doesn’t matter,’” said Mixon, who didn’t know initially if he’d caught Humphrey before he crossed the goal line. “I just wasn’t stopping until he came down.”
“Right there’s the game,” said Bengals coach Ryan Habich. “They score and they go up two scores. They could’ve taken the game right there.”
Shortly thereafter, the Bengals embarked on a 17-play, 74-yard drive that chewed eight minutes off the clock. The drive featured three third-down conversions, one fourth-down conversion and 16 consecutive running plays. The final nine went to bruising back Eric Powell, who finished off the drive with a 1-yard TD plunge.
“I think we got them tired in the second half, and we were just going to pound the football,” Habich said. “That’s our bread and butter, running the football.”
The Bengals monopolized the clock in second half thanks to its ground game. They held the ball for 15:59 of the 24-minute half.
By night’s end, Fuquay ran 61 plays to the Golden Hawks’ 34.
The majority of those plays were on the ground, where the Bengals rushed 56 times for 265 yards and three touchdowns. Powell finished with 62 yards on 13 carries, Adrian Evans had 51 yards on five attempts, and quarterback Nate Budde ran for 32 and a touchdown while passing for 67.
Holly Springs took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter after J.J. Graves (eight carries, 102 yards, two touchdowns) scored on a nine-yard run.
Fuquay’s Budde answered with a 1-yard keeper late in the first, then put the Bengals ahead 8-6 when he scored the two-point conversion.
The Golden Hawks (0-3) fumbled the ensuing kickoff at their own 30-yard line, and Hunter scored on a 15-yard run two plays later.
Graves returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards to the end zone, but it was wiped out by a block in the back flag. Holly Springs still had good field position to start the drive – the Fuquay 27-yard line – but Collins was sacked on fourth and 10.
Holly Springs made it a three-point game just before the half. Starting out at their own 3-yard line, Graves ripped off a 54-yard run on the drive’s first play. Six plays later, Corron Boston scored on 14-yard TD run. The PAT failed, and the Bengals took a 15-12 lead into halftime.
The Golden Hawks picked up right where they left off after intermission. Marcus McDonald returned the half-opening kickoff 49 yards to the Fuquay 41-yard line. Graves finished off the drive with a 13-yard TD run. Nick Hohns converted the point after, giving Holly Springs a 19-15 advantage.
While Holly Springs will have to wait another week to try to get into the win column, the Hawks’ opposition on Friday expressed no doubt that they would find a win before too long.
“We talked all week about how Holly Springs is going to win some football games this year,” Habich said, “but it (was) not going to be against Fuquay.”
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