PREP FOOTBALL: West Point eases past Fairview 55-27

Published 1:09 am Friday, August 24, 2018

WEST POINT — Hunter Persall ran wild, and the Warriors rolled to a 55-27 season-opening win over the Fairview Aggies on Thursday night in the second edition of the Brandin’ Iron Bowl.

Persall rushed for 163 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns behind a bullying offensive line that was just too much for Fairview’s undersized front. Persall keyed an offense that rolled up 503 yards.

“It’s how you want to start the first game,” West Point coach Don Farley said. “We went out and moved the ball offensively and defensively we were good early.

West Point scored on its first four possessions and never looked back. While the Fairview defense honed in on Persall early, it was quarterback play from Rylan Jones with clean pockets provided by his guys up front that eased the pressure. Jones was an efficient 8 of 12 passing for 136 yards and two scores.

“Our pass blocking, I was really proud of that,” Farley said. “If Rylan can get some time, he can make things happen.

“Some things are going to happen in the first game – some missed assignments, some penalties, some turnovers. But overall, our guys executed everything we’ve worked on.”

This marked the sixth win in row for West Point in this cross-county series. It’s the longest streak in the series since the Warriors won eight straight from 1976-1983.

West Point raced to a 34-6 halftime lead. Persall scored the first and final touchdowns of the half, finding the end zone from the 6-yard line to open the game and reaching paydirt again with 1:02 remaining on a 27-yard sprint.

It was after Persall’s first touchdown that Fairview got its lone highlight of the first 24 minutes. Dante Dumas took the ensuing kickoff and went 88 yards untouched for a score to tie the game at 6-6.

But the Fairview defense couldn’t stop West Point, which went up 14-6 on Brayden Martin’s 2-yard run. Martin finished the night with 74 yards on the ground.

Jones found Kobe Bowers – who caught six passes for 111 yards – on the Warriors’ next possession for a 27-yard scoring strike, and Jones’ 7-yard keeper stretched the advantage to 27-6 at the 5:39 mark of the second quarter.

Fairview finally broke through for its first first down of the game on its next possession and eventually reached the West Point 14-yard line, but Levi Farley thwarted the drive with an interception in the end zone.

Steven Rodriguez set up Persall’s late first-half touchdown.

Farley’s second interception of the night set up the Warriors’ first score in the second half, as Persall needed just one play to go 66 yards for a touchdown.

Fairview quarterback Dayne Black scored the Aggies’ first offensive touchdown of the night on their next possession on a 6-yard run, but West Point drove right back down the field with Jones finding Kolton Sapp for a 20-yard touchdown through the air.

The teams traded a few more window-dressing touchdowns from there, with Fairview’s Mason Black and Parker Martin scoring on short runs and West Point’s Kelton Washington finding the end zone on a 58-yard sprint.

Fairview managed 273 yards of offense on the night after being held to just 88 yards in the first half. Tyvn Ellis ran 14 times for 76 yards, and Black completed 7 of 15 passes for 83 yards to go along with 53 yards rushing.