PROCTORVILLE — It was supposed to be a game of football. The Chesapeake Panthers turned it into a game of keep away.

By controlling the ball with their running game, the Chesapeake Panthers were able to slow down the high-powered Fairland offense and upset the Dragons 20-14 Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game at Jim Mayo Stadium.

Chesapeake (3-6, 2-2) rushed 45 times for 232 yards led by Gabriel Fryre with 129 yards on 14 carries and quarterback Colton Lindsey with a career-high 106 yards on 10 attempts. Peter Hintz added 78 yards on 15 tries.

“The game plan was to keep the ball away from them and we were able to do that,” said Panthers’ coach Phil Davis.

“Colton played a great game and our linemen dug in. We did the same thing we’ve been doing. We just had more people than we’ve had for a while. We didn’t have anyone sick and a couple who were injured were back. But our kids played great.”

The loss dropped Fairland to 6-3 and 3-1 in the OVC. Although the Dragons have been eliminated from the playoffs, they can gain a share of the league title with a win at Coal Grove next Friday.

Fairland coach Dave Carroll said little things hurt the Dragons including the loss of Tyler Duty in the first quarter. But he refused to use them as an excuse.

“Losing Duty change our game plan, and we hurt ourselves with penalties,” said Carroll. “But we had our chances. Phil called a great game.”

Chesapeake went up 7-0 when Freyre capped a 12-play drive with a 1-yard scoring run. Trent Saunders kicked the point after at the 1:19 mark.

But the Dragons took just two plays to answer as Chad Fisher and Jon Baise hooked up on a 66-yard catch-and-run play to trail 7-6 with just 19 seconds on the clock.

The Panthers went up 14-6 just before the end of the half on a 5-yard run by Freyre.

Fairland came back to tie the game in the third quarter on a 43-yard jaunt by Matt Bloomfield. Fisher threw to Kyle Taubenheim on the conversion.

Chesapeake got the winning score on the first play of the fourth quarter when Hintz ran 29 yards for the touchdown.

Fairland used a fake punt to gain 25 yards with time running down, but the Dragons fumbled the ball away on the next play inside the Chesapeake 30-yard line and the Panthers recovered.

“If you had told me we would have held them to 14 points, I’d never believed you,” said Davis.

Carroll praised Chesapeake for their effort.

“We were in a position to tie the game and win, but just didn’t make the play. I have to give (Chesapeake) credit. They came to play and they capitalized on their opportunities,” said Carroll.

Bloomfield led Fairland with 109 yards on 11 carries while Fisher was 6-of-11 passing for 105 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Chesapeake 7 7 0 6 = 20

Fairland 6 0 8 0 = 14

First Quarter

Ch — Gabriel Freyre 1 run (Trent Saunders) 1:19

Fa — Jon Baise 66 pass from Chad Fisher (run failed) 0:19

Second Quarter

Ch — Gabriel Freyre 5 run (Trent Saunders kick) 3:05

Third Quarter

Fa — Matt Bloomfield 43 run (Kyle Taubenheim pass from Chad Fisher) 3:14

Fourth Quarter

Ch — Peter Hintz 29 run (kick failed) 11:52

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Ch Fa

First downs 11 8

Rushes-yards 45-232 24-140

Passing yards 18 112

Total yards 250 252

Cmp-Att-Int 1-2-0 7-12-1

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 6-35 8-52

Punts-average 2-22.0 1-34.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Chesapeake: Gabriel Freyre 14-129, Peter Hintz 15-78, Colton Lindsey 10-106, Trey West 6-19. Fairland: Matt Bloomfield 11-109, Chad Fisher 8-28, Terry Duty 1-minus 4, Tanner Sowards 3-6, Eric Riley 1-1.

PASSING—Chesapeake: Colton Lindsey 1-2-0 18. Fairland: Chad Fisher 6-11-1 105, Tyler Duty 1-1-0 7.

RECEIVING—Chesapeake: Peter Hintz 1-18. Fairland: Jon Baise 2-74, Kyle Lawhorn 2-22, Tyler Duty 1-5, Kyle Taubenheim 1-4, Chad Fisher 1-7.