Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PROCTORVILLE — It was a typical Chesapeake-Fairland game.

The Chesapeake Panthers rallied from a 19-7 deficit to beat the arch-rival Fairland Dragons 26-19 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Friday.

It was the Panthers fourth straight win in the series.

“It was a typical Fairland-Chesapeake game. Our kids fought back and made some plays. They did a good job on Javon (Thompson) and they took us out of our passing game, so we started running the ball more,” said Panthers’ coach Andy Clark.

And run the ball they did.

The Panthers (3-4, 2-0) ran 36 times for 233 yards with Jacob Collins carrying seven times for 121 yards and three touchdowns. Nate Jones added 92 yards on 19 rushes.

Chance Short was 15 of 23 for 140 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Dragons. Kyle Sowards ran for 58 yards and caught four passes for 76 yards and a touchdown.

Fairland held a 288 to 244 advantage in total yards. However, the Dragons were whistled 12 times for 100 yards in penalties and suffered two interceptions.

“I said before the game it would come down to turnovers and penalties. We were in the red zone twice and had holding penalties. That’s hard to overcome,” said Fairland coach Dave Carroll.

After a scoreless first quarter, Short hit Nathan Campbell with a 13-yard scoring pass to cap a 65-yard, 8-play drive. Isiah Vidal’s conversion kick gave Fairland a 7-0 lead.

Chesapeake returned the kickoff to the Fairland 12-yard line and two plays later Collins scored from 6 yards out. Wesley Stephens kicked the tying extra point.

But Tyree Ceasar returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown and Fairland was back on top 13-7.

“It was one of those games where a couple of plays here or there could have changed the outcome,” said Carroll.

Fairland (3-4, 1-1) went up 19-7 on a 40-yard pass from Short to Sowards to start the second half.

Chesapeake came back to make it 19-13 on a 63-yard scoring burst by Collins with 3:12 left in the third quarter.

After gaining one yard on first down, Collins went 43 yards on the next play for a touchdown as Chesapeake took the lead for good with 11:13 to play. Stephens kicked the conversion.

Brandon Clagg returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown with 5:27 left to seal the win for the Panthers.

“They threw the ball on us the first half. We didn’t get much pressure on the quarterback,” said Clark.

“We change some things up at halftime and started to get pressure on them. We had too many mental mistakes on offense in the first half that cost us at least one touchdowns.

“I was proud of the kids. The seniors showed leadership. We could have folded the tents but we battled back.”

Fairland 0 13 6 0 = 19

Chesapeake 0 7 6 13 = 26

Second Quarter

Fa — Nathan Campbell 13 pass from Chance Short (Isiah Vidal kick) 3:34

Ch — Jacob Collins 6 run (Wesley Stephens kick) 2:53

Fa — Tyree Ceasar 70 kickoff return (kick failed) 2:38

Third Quarter

Fa — Kyle Sowards 40 pass from Chance Short (pass failed) 8:16

Ch — Jacob Collins 63 run (kick failed) 3:12

Fourth Quarter

Ch — Jacob Collins 43 run (Wesley Stephens kick) 11:13

Ch — Brandon Clagg 41 interception return (kick failed) 5:27

Team Statistics

Fa Ch

First downs 12 11

Rushes-yards 35-140 36-233

Passing yards 140 11

Total yards 280 244

Cmp-Att-Int 15-23-2 1-6-0

Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 12-100 5-40

Punts-average 2-33.0 4-30.1

Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Fairland: Chance Short 6-minus 9, Tyree Ceasar 10-49, Nathan Campbell 3-7, Kyle Sowards 13-58, Derrick Willis 2-6, Dylan Murphy 1-4; Chesapeake: Jacob Collins 7-121, Nate Jones 19-92, Caleb Lindsey 5-3, Brandon Clagg 4-15, Kevon Thompson 1-2.

PASSING—Fairland: Chance Short 15-23-2 140; Chesapeake: Caleb Lindsey 1-6-0 11.

RECEIVING—Fairland: Cody Midkiff 4-24, Kyle Sowards 4-76, Nathan Campbell 5-37, Tyree Ceasar 2-3; Chesapeake: Andrew Saunders 1-11.