Less than three minutes into the game, the Fairland Dragons made the deciding play.

After forcing a punt, the Dragons had the ball at their own 24-yard line. Fullback Blayne Cornwell took the handoff, powered his way through several Chesapeake tacklers, and rambled 76 yards for a touchdown.

When the dust settled, the Dragons scored five touchdowns that covered double-digit yardage as they routed the Panthers 53-20 Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

“Blayne Cornwell ran over three or four people on the first carry and that set the tone,” said Fairland coach Roger Snyder.

“We hit them, we had good pursuit and got to the football. We played pretty well.”

Cornwell finished with 202 yards on only 10 carries. Fairland averaged more than 15 yards a game with 31 carries for 469 yards as a team. Quarterback Cole Hatfield was 4-of-5 passing for 60 yards to give Fairland 529 total yards.

“We just happened to be clicking,” said Snyder. “It was a lot easier than I expected. I expected a humdinger of a ball game.”

Fairland (3-5, 3-1) will host Coal Grove next Friday in the season finale. The Dragons need a win to earn a share of the OVC championship.

“We have something to play for. It makes the last week a little sweeter,” said Snyder.

Following Cornwell’s run, Hatfield capped a drive with a one-yard run and it was 15-0.

Hatfield then threw 23 yards to Aaron Ward and the lead was 22-0 at the end of the quarter.

Cornwell ran 48 yards for a touchdown to begin the second quarter and Chad Fisher followed with a 68-yard scamper.

Matt Bloomfield scored from six yards out, but he had a 40-yard run to set up the score and the lead was 40-0.

Peter Hintz returned the ensuing kickoff 68 yards for the Panthers’ only first half touchdown, but the Dragons came right back with Fisher racing 29 yards for a TD with just 29 seconds left on the clock.

Tyler Duty capped the Dragons’ big-play offense with a 68-yard run midway through the third quarter and it was 53-6.

Trey West had a 14-yard scoring run in the third quarter and Drew Brock a 33-yard scamper to account for the other Chesapeake touchdowns.

Fairland 22 24 7 0 = 53

Chesapeake 0 6 6 8 = 20

First Quarter

Fa – Blayne Cornwell 76 run (Tyler Duty pass from Cole Hatfield) 9:10

Fa – Cole Hatfield 1 run (Nathan Burcham kick) 4:27

Fa – Aaron Ward 23 pass from Cole Hatfield (Nathan Burcham kick) 0:34

Second Quarter

Fa – Blayne Cornwell 48 run (kick blocked) 7:29

Fa – Chad Fisher 68 run (kick failed) 5:23

Fa – Matt Bloomfield 6 run (kick failed) 0:59

Ch – Peter Hintz 68 kickoff return (kick failed) 0:47

Fa – Chad Fisher 29 run (kick failed) 0:29

Third Quarter

Fa – Tyler Duty 68 run (Nathan Burcham kick) 6:53

Ch – Trey West 14 run (pass failed) 1:18

Fourth Quarter

Ch – Drew Brock 33 run (Jared Cornwell run) 6:11

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Fa Ch

First downs 16 15

Rushes-yards 31-469 54-286

Passing yards 60 96

Total yards 529 382

Cmp-Att-Int 4-50 6-9-1

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 5-45 5-30

Punts-average 1-32.0 1-23.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING–Fairland: Blayne Cornwell 10-202, Cole Hatfield 3-13, Chad Fisher 2-97, Matt Bloomfield 7-72, Tyler Duty 2-70, Eric Riley 1-11, Tanner Sowards 4-9, Kyle Taubenheim 1-minus 3, Alex Thackston 1-minus 2. Chesapeake: Drew Blake 5-14, Aaron Donahoe 13-39, Alex Wells 3-12, Peter Hintz 6-7, Trey West 7-53, Tyler Edwards 1-1, Austin McMaster 4-22, Drew Brock 3-58, Jared Cornwell 4-31, Levi Smith 4-16, Patrick Hintz 4-32.

PASSING–Fairland: Cole Hatfield 4-5-0 60. Chesapeake: Aaron Donahoe 6-9-1 96.

RECEIVING–Fairland: Aaron Ward 2-35, Chad Fisher 2-25. Chesapeake: Drew Blake 2-3, Peter Hintz 1-17, Trey West 1-32, Tyler Edwards 1-32, Kyle Webb 1-12.