Corner offense falters against Fayette
By J.D. Brooks
Special to The North Jefferson News
FAYETTE — The Corner Yellow Jackets (1-7; 0-5) were handed a 40-13 loss by the Fayette County Tigers (6-2; 4-1).
Corner Head Coach Jeff Smith didn’t really seem too upset over the loss, and is looking at a bigger picture, building a team that can compete in the future.
“Fayette County is a very good team.” Smith said after the game. “I think they had some injuries and some younger linemen (on the line) but they handled us and they’re a team that can go deep in the playoffs and we got a lot of respect for them.”
The Yellow Jackets were never really in the game, and fell behind early when Tiger returner Colton Billups returned the Yellow Jackets’ punt from their opening possession 64 yards for a touchdown.
Kicker Nathan Hillis added the extra point and the Tigers led 7-0 with 10:01 left in the first quarter.
After the score, Corner buckled down and kept Fayette County out of the end zone until running back Tim Walker broke a 17 yard run to lift the Tigers’ lead to 14-0 with 2:50 left in the first quarter.
Less than two minutes later Billups scored once again, this time on a 33-yard pass from quarterback Evan Sims. The PAT failed and the Tigers led 20-0.
The Tigers found the end zone quickly once again, this time on a 36-yard pass from Sims to tight end Chuck Franks. The two point conversion attempt failed and Fayette County led 26-0 with 9:08 left in the first half.
Billups found the end zone for a third time on an option reverse from 3 yards out with 3:24 left in the first half to extend Fayette County’s lead to 33-0.
The Yellow Jackets finally scored on a six-yard pass from quarterback Zack Price to Aaron Cummings to cut their deficit to 33-7 with 1:08 left in the first half.
But the Tigers weren’t finished scoring as Sims found Billups for the second time Friday night through the air, this time a 61-yard pass. Fayette County took a 40-7 lead into the half.
The second half was mainly the Tigers second team offense and the Yellow Jackets offense putting together time consuming drives that didn’t result in anything until Corner scored once again as Price connected with Cummings for the second time during the game, this time from six yards out with 11:40 left in the game.
The extra point attempt was blocked, making the final score of 40-13.
“We’re just trying to get better week to week, get more physical and stronger up front,” Smith said. “We’re playing a bunch of young kids and the experience they’re getting right now is going to benefit us in the future. It’s just tough to go through right now sometimes.”
This week, Corner will pay a visit to the Oak Grove Tigers, a team they haven’t beaten since 2001. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.