Rosemark's Will Hughes picks up a few yards during region action at home Friday night vs. Fayette Academy. The Vikings won, 37-13. Photo by Jeff Ireland
Though Tipton-Rosemark Academy lost by 24 points at home to Fayette Academy Friday night in DII-A-West play, if three plays had gone a little differently, there likely would have been a different result.
The first came when tight end Eason Wells hit Brady Orr on a trick play. The 58-yard touchdown pass, which was nearly tipped by a TRA defender, put Fayette Academy ahead 14-7 late in the first quarter.
Midway through the second quarter, with Fayette Academy facing a fourth and 14 from the TRA 25, Corbin Bowling hit J.H. Anderson on a TD pass that put Fayette Academy up 21-7.
Rosemark responded with a long drive. On the final play of the first half, Sam Cannon hit Nix Fullen in the flat. Fullen was stopped just short of the goal line as time expired.
Fayette Academy only out gained Rosemark by 19 yards, but those three plays played a huge role in a 37-13 TRA loss.
“We had a few really bad breaks,” TRA head coach William Dean said. “When we didn’t score at the end of the half, that was kind of a backbreaker. It just kind of piled up. At the end of the day, you can only take so much.”
There were plenty of offensive highlights for TRA (0-4 overall, 0-2 DII-A-West).
Sam Cannon completed 16 of 36 passes for 180 yards. Aiden Petrowski caught eight passes for 100 yards and Fullen rushed for 79 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Will Hughes caught five passes for 53 yards and Carson Funk caught three for 21.
Bowling was the man for Fayette Academy (3-2, 1-1). The quarterback rushed for 88 yards and threw for 40 more.
Fayette Academy’s 190 rushing yards proved to be a huge factor.
“We challenged our kids early in the week that they (Fayette Academy) were a physical football team and we were going to have to match their physicality,” Dean said. “At the end of the day, we just didn’t. They did a lot of stuff on offense … pretty much anything they wanted to do.”
Though Rosemark is 0-2 in region play, the next four games will be against league opponents, starting with a trip to Jackson Friday to play Trinity Christian Academy, which is 1-4.
“We just gotta have more pride. We gotta bounce back better,” Dean said. “We very easily could get back in the playoff race … There’s time to bounce back. We just gotta keep these guys positive and moving forward.”
