PROCTORVILLE - As the old clich\u00E9 goes, "It's all about matchups."

That's just what the Chesapeake Panthers did Friday as they blanked their arch-rivals the Fairland Dragons 28-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams.

Panthers head coach Phil Davis elected to try and match his players against the Dragons in an effort to slow down Fairland's passing game.

The key matchup was defensive back Caleb McComas on Fairland wide receiver Sam Huff. Although Huff had 32 catches for 470

yards coming into the game, he was held in check with four receptions for 11 yards.

Linebackers Cody Methax and Josh Ross on the outside and Cory Methax and Kersten Harris on the inside not only helped with the passing game, but helped limit Fairland (1-5) to 61 yards rushing.

"We figured we had to see what matchups we had to have. We put McComas on Huff and they threw one fade and he picked it. (McComas) did an outstanding job," Davis said.

"We put (Jeffrey) Thornburg on (Josh) Johnson and he did a great job. Our linebackers did a great job. The defense did a super job all night," Davis said.

Fairland quarterback Rich Staggs had completed 88 of 151 for 1,041 yards and eight touchdowns. He managed to complete 12 of 20 passes for just 64 yards and suffered three interceptions.

The Panthers sacked Staggs five times for minus 23 yards.

"We did what we needed to do," Davis said. "We still made some mistakes, but we were able to overcome them,"

Chesapeake (3-3,) kept the ball away from the Dragons by rushing 55 times for 273 yards. The Panthers had 293 total yards.

McComas ran for 87 yards and passed for another 20. Cory Methax had 70 yards on 12 carries, Harris 59 on 17 tries and Cody Methax 50 yards on 11 attempts.

"The offensive line is getting better and better and our backs did a good job getting up in the hole. We had a lot of 6-, 7- and 8-yarders. And Caleb hit some key passes when we needed them," Davis said.

After a scoreless first quarter, Chesapeake drove 67 yards in 14 plays with Harris scoring on a 2-yard run. Cody Methax kicked the first of four extra points.

Harris scored again on a 1-yard run just before the end of the half to cap a 58-yard, 14-play drive.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Erik McWhorter recovered a fumbled snap at the Fairland 26 and five plays later Cody Methax scored from 6 yards out to make it 21-0.

Chesapeake's final touchdown came with 5:19 to play on a 3-yard run by Cory Methax. The 56-yard, eight-play drive was highlighted by McComas' 21-yard run.

Chesapeake hosts South Point and Fairland travels to Coal Grove next Friday in league games.

Chesapeake014014=28

Fairland0000=0

Second Quarter

Ch – Kersten Harris 2 run (Cody Methax kick) 10:46

14-67

Ch – Kersten Harris 1 run (Cody Methax kick) :08

14-58

Fourth Quarter

Ch – Cody Methax 6 run (Cody Methax kick) 10:53 5-26 Erik McWhorter recover fumbled snap

Ch – Cory Methax 3 run (Cody Methax kick)

5:19

8-56

McComas 21 run in drive

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ChFa

First downs1511

Rushes-yards55-27319-61

Passing yards2064

Total yards293125

Cmp-Att-Int.3-8-012-20-3

Fumbles-lost2-11-1

Punts-average5-35.04-34.0

Penalties-yards10-703-10

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING – Chesapeake: Caleb McComas 11-87, Cory Methax 12-70, Kersten Harris 17-59, Cody Methax 11-50, Patrick Fernandez 1-5, Jaren Bartoe 1-4, Ryan Reynolds 1-0, Jason Caynor 1-minus 2; Fairland: Michael Meachem 6-41, Travis Cardwell 3-22, Adam Fuller 5-21, Rich Staggs 5-minus 23.

PASSING – Chesapeake: Caleb McComas 3-8-0 20; Fairland: Rich Staggs 12-19-3

64, Sam Huff 0-1-0.

RECEIVING – Chesapeake: Brent Ransbottom 2-16, Cory Methax 1-4; Fairland: Josh Johnson 3-33, Sam Huff 4-11, Adam Fuller 4-16, Nolan Love 1-4.