INEZ, Ky. - It was supposed to be a football game. It turned into a game of keep away.

Sheldon Clark controlled the clock and the football en route to a 26-18 win over the Fairland Dragons Friday.

The Cardinals had 65 rushing attempts for 284 yards. Overall, the Cardinals ran 77 plays to 44 for Fairland.

"They played keep away with us. They're huge up front and they just pound the ball at you. Even when they didn't score they kept the ball for a long time," Fairland coach Brent Wilcoxon said.

Fairland opened the scoring with a 57-yard, nine-play drive capped by Adam Fuller's 2-yard run and it was 6-0.

Sheldon Clark responded with a six-play, 64-yard march that culminated on a 1-yard run by Damen Hensley to tie the game.

The Dragons then took their final lead on a 13-yard pass from Rich Staggs to Sam Huff that was the 11th play in a 71-yard drive.

The Cardinals scored twice in the second quarter to take an 18-12 lead.

Adam Dials ran 17 yards for a touchdown to cap a 68-yard march. Dials then intercepted a pass to set up a 12-play, 56-yard drive that ended on a 4-yard run by Dials.

Hensley had a 3-yard scoring run and Dials added the conversion to push the lead to 26-12 with 7:12 to play.

The Dragons answered with a 7-yard scoring strike from Staggs to Josh Johnson with 1:10 left.

Fairland had one final chance late in the game with a drive to the Cardinals 15-yard line, but the drive stalled in part due to a pair of holding calls and an unsportsmanlike penalty.

Staggs had his best game of the season by completing 18 of 27 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. Fuller ran 15 times for 61 yards.

Huff and Johnson had impressive games. Huff caught seven passes for 96 yards and Johnson got 62 yards on a five catches.

Assistant coach Jeff Gorby said

the defense gave a solid effort.

"Travis Cardwell had an outstanding game. We moved him to defensive end in the second half and I can't say enough about his effort," Gorby said.

The game was the Calloway Memorial Kickoff Classic. Fuller was named the Dragons top defense player and Huff the offensive MVP.

Fairland12060=18

Sheldon Clark61280=26

First Quarter

Fa – Adam Fuller 2 run (kick failed) 9:04

SC – Damen Hensley 1 run (run failed) 6:50

Fa – Sam Huff 13 pass from Rich Staggs (pass failed) 2:15

Second Quarter

SC – Adam Dials 17 run (run failed) 10:26

SC – Adam Dials 4 run (run failed) 4:47

Third Quarter

SC – Damen Hensley 3 run (Adam Dials run) 7:18

Fa – Josh Johnson 7 pass from Rich Staggs (kick failed) 1:10

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FaSC

First downs1325

Rushes-yards17-4865-284

Passing yards20886

Total yards256370

Cmp-Att-Int18-27-17-12-0

Fumbles-lost0-00-0

Punts-average3-30.00-00

Penalties-yards8-854-40

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING-Fairland: Adam Fuller 15-61, Rich Staggs 2-minus 13; Sheldon Clark: Adam Dials 25-168, Damon Hensley 19-42, Adam Davis 7-26, Ryan Kelly 9-24, Tim Goble 3-22, James Maynard 2-2.

PASSING-Fairland: Rich Staggs 18-27-1 208; Damon Hensley 7-12-0 86.

RECEIVING- Fairland: Sam Huff 7-96, Josh Johnson 5-62, Adam Fuller 6-50; Sheldon Clark: Adam Dial 2-33, Daniel Hyler 3-32, Tim Goble 2-21.