[jwplayer M6HSwNQT]
In a battle of Mid-Lakes conference heavyweights unbeaten Fair Grove, ranked 7th in Class 2, handed Ash Grove just its second loss of the season 29-0.
“I didn’t really expect the final score to be like that,” Fair Grove head coach Bill Voorhis said of his team’s dominance. “I did know we were capable of it. We had a good week of practice and our kids just had a mindset that this was the kind of game it was going to be and they went and got it.”
What kind of a game it was included dominance on both sides of the ball. The Eagle defense held Ash Grove to minus 18-yards rushing, 49-yards passing, and just six first downs, two of those coming off penalties against Fair Grove.
The Eagle offense scored on its very first drive, moving 57-yards culminated by a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brayden Lumley to Steven Huskey, who was the star offensive player of the night with 132-yards in receptions.
Huskey had a pair of touchdown receptions, the second coming at 2:34 of the first quarter on a 72-yard hook-up from Jayden Kensinger, who was in at quarterback replacing Lumley.
“We saw an opening in their defense we exploited as much as we could,” Huskey said of his big night. “Their outside linebacker would play inside of me and they would try to man-him-up one-on-one. So I just went right behind him.”
While Fair Grove missed the extra-points on their first-two touchdowns, they still led 19-0 by the half after moving 73-yards with just under six minutes left before the half with running back Dalton Cloyd rambling the final 13-yards for the touchdown. Cloyd rushed for 125-yards.
“Our offensive line hasn’t got enough credit all year,” Voorhis said. “Our skill players get a lot of the credit but our guys up front just decided that they were gonna dictate policy tonight and they did.”
The Eagles added their final touchdown at 3:31 of the third quarter after Cloyd’s second touchdown run from three-yards-out. The big play of the drive was a 25-yard pass down to the 15-yard-line to Huskey, who had two defenders deflect the ball into the air, yet turned around from his front-side to his back-side to find the ball in mid-air and make a juggling catch.
“I have no clue how I caught that honestly,” Huskey admitted.
Fair Grove would add a late field goal for a 29-0 final that keeps them unbeaten with one regular season game next week against Adrian. Ash Grove falls to 6-2 with a trip to Strafford up next.
But as superior as Fair Grove was in this game, Ash Grove may have more success in the playoffs. While the Pirates are in a winnable Class 1 district that includes Thayer, Pierce City, Miller, Pleasant Hope, Sarcoxie, Marionville, and Cabool, the Eagles are in a Class 2 district that includes the five-time defending state champs from Lamar.
The thought of unbeaten Fair Grove and unbeaten Lamar meeting in the district finals is a definite possibility but a shame that two of the state’s best teams will meet so early with the team that suffers its first loss having its season end so abruptly.
“We talked about it at the beginning of the year at wanting to get back to that district championship game,” Voorhis said. “Everybody in our class is comparing themselves to Lamar. I think we match up well against them at least from the standpoint of what we do well versus what they do well. Nobody’s been able to stop them yet but we just hope at some point we get that opportunity.”
