Admiral offense sputters in loss to Panthers
One week later, the Farragut Admirals held the Panthers to half that total in their visit to “The Jungle.”
Yet the Ads (0-2) could not match, falling 28-3 on Friday, Aug. 28.
“We’re fighting and giving great effort,” head coach Geoff Courtney said afterward. “Guys are playing their guts out. We’ve just got to clean up some things. Offensively, we’ve got a long way to go with our timing, our execution and our physical play. We had three, four new guys in the lineup that weren’t there last week, battling sickness and all that. But had some guys step up and play hard.”
Throughout the game, Farragut’s biggest successes came through defense and special teams.
Just before halftime. Abram Shelton leaped into the air and snagged Farragut’s first pick of the season.
“He was in good position, created a little pressure on that drive, too,” Courtney said. “We got pressure on the quarterback, hurried him and he hung it up and under-threw it, and Abram made a good play on the ball.”
The Admirals’ only score occurred on a 29-yard first-quarter field goal from Caleb Bell, who also has averaged 31.8 yards per punt this season with a 1-for-1 mark in field goals made.
Elijah Sadler returned three kickoffs for 91 yards against the Panthers (2-0), adding four carries for 10 yards on offense with six tackles (five solo) on defense.
“He’s doing well, playing a bunch both ways,” Courtney said of Sadler, who flexed and yelled after one impressive pass breakup in the second half. “He’s been an every-down cover corner, covering guys’ best receivers in the boundary and then contributing on offense. He’s playing a lot of football and has given us great effort.”
Offensively, Brenton Haag totaled 11 carries for 30 yards with Cruz Williams at 13 carries for 18 yards. Quarterback Hayes Sharp went 0-for-4 from the pocket on the night, missing a couple of deep shots when the pocket collapsed.
“Just deliver a little more catchable football,” Courtney said of the junior. “He was overthrowing a little bit, excited, but the game will slow down for him. So we’ve got to continue to work on the play-action game. Got to continue to run the ball and be physical so he’s got protection and guys are open.”
The Ads were operating without running back Carter Collier, who was injured in Week 1 against Sevier County, though Courtney noted he should be “able to go in the future.”
Aside from Shelton’s pick, the Farragut defense saw nine tackles (six solo) from Mason Swor with eight tackles (six solo) from John Eddlemon and seven tackles (five solo) apiece for Shelton and Wyatt Walker.
Bailey Pyle added a pair of pass breakups, toughening Benjamin’s sight line throughout the night.
Even so, Powell managed to score one touchdown per quarter en route to the win.
Zi Jackson zigzagged 41 yards for the first score, then Johonauan Moore found the end zone next before the hosts rang up two more touchdowns in the second half.
“Defense, we kept putting them in bad positions,” Courtney lamented. “Had the bad punt but I thought they played hard, held Powell to a few field goal opportunities and 28 points.
“This is a team that had 650 yards and 56 points last week, and they probably could have had more than that. Very explosive team. But we will take the next step going into (this) week.”
This Friday’s matchup will bring the Upperman Bees to Farragut for the Admirals’ home opener.
FHS lost 42-6 to the same team last year, though UHS also had current Appalachian State freshman Bronzden Chaffin under center then, too.
“Not really, just saw a bit of their first game last week,” Courtney said last week of whether he had been able to watch much of the Bees yet. “Coach Caine does a good job. They will be competing in 4A at their level to go far in the playoffs. Chaffin has graduated, finally, so probably a little bit like us: a work in progress on offense and a good, strong defense. That’s what it looks like on film.”
