Fuquay falls short in 17-14 loss to Byrd

FUQUAY-VARINA — Trailing by three points with 15 seconds to play, Fuquay-Varina's student section tried to lift the downtrodden Bengals with a hearty cheer. "Don't give up! Don't give up! Don't give up!" rained down from the stands. Though the Bengals fought admirably, the final task — cover 80 yards in 15 seconds with no timeouts — was too tall an order, and their season came to a heart-wrenching end. Fayetteville Byrd placekicker Danny Fischer kicked a 30-yard field goal with 15.4 seconds to play that gave the eighth-seeded Eagles a 17-14 win over No. 1 Fuquay-Varina in the second round of the 4-A playoffs. "Any time you play a game like that, it's hard to lose," said Fuquay-Varina coach Ryan Habich. "We felt we could play with them. I know a lot of people thought that we wouldn't be in the game. But as a team, we thought we could." The Bengals had their chances. In a game that close, two mistakes cost them: a red zone turnover late in the first half and a missed field goal with three minutes to play. "We get down in the red zone, we've got to get points," Habich said. "Our kids played hard all year, but when we get in the red zone, turnovers and missed field goals, we've got to score in those situations. With us not getting any turnovers on them, that's the difference in the game. A missed field goal and a turnover in the red zone, and they win it." The Bengals (11-2) controlled the first half and took a 6-0 lead late in the first quarter. Corey Mixon scored the first of his two touchdowns on a six-yard run with 1:48 on the clock. Fuquay's defense held Byrd (10-3) to a three-and-out on the ensuing possession. The Bengals were marching toward a second score, but on the 13th play of the drive, Byrd cornerback/quarterback Malcolm Rowe intercepted Kyle Canfield's pass at the goal line. The Bengals took the 6-0 lead into halftime, but it didn't last long into the third quarter. On the opening possession of the second half, Byrd found offensive success by going to the air. Rowe, who missed on each of his three attempts in the first half, was a perfect 3-for-3 on a six-play, 56-yard touchdown drive. On a play-action pass, Rowe rolled to his right and found tight end Kenny Short behind the Fuquay secondary for a 26-yard TD strike. "There's nine people in there coming screaming at us, that's the way they were stopping us [in the first half]," said Byrd coach Russell Stone. "We had a huge physical advantage, and that's to their credit. They were in a 4-4 defense and the safety was running up hard, so we had to block nine people and we just didn't have enough to get it done. So we thought we'd try to throw it a little bit." Byrd's defense held on the ensuing Fuquay possession, and the Eagle's took over at their own 15-yard line. On the first play of the drive, freshman running back Darian Hogan wiggled out of a tackle at the line of scrimmage, then motored 77 yards to the Fuquay 8. Two plays later, Donnie Owens plowed into the end zone from two yards out. But Fuquay bounced right back with a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Fullback Cory Hunter (25 carries, 136 yards) got the ball on eight of those plays and accounted for 51 yards. Christien Neikens (six carries, 73 yards) scored on a seven-yard run, but it was called back for holding. On the next play, Mixon scored from 11 yards out. Canfield passed to a wide open Kenny Weatherman for the two-point conversion, which tied the game 14-14 with 10:22 to play. "We've been down before, and our kids are very level-headed," Habich said. "When they get down, they don't get upset. ... If we get down, we just come back and score. We execute. It was huge for us to come down and score like that." Fuquay's defense held Byrd on the next possession, and the Bengals got the ball back at their own 47 with 6:22 to play. They got as close as the Byrd 12 before the drive stalled, and a 28-yard field goal attempt went wide left. Byrd took over at their own 20 with 2:57 to play and marched inside the Fuquay 10 in seven plays. On second and goal from the four, Owens bulldozed into the end zone again, but the score was called back for an assisting the runner penalty. With the ball backed up to the 9-yard line, the Eagles were flagged for a delay of game, which backed the ball up to the 13. Stone called on his placekicker to win the game, and Fischer split the uprights with 15.4 seconds to play. "I'm real proud of my kicker," Stone said. "That's only the second one he's made all year, and he's really struggled off the left hash. We worked on that all week, so we're really tickled for Fisch." Despite the difficult-to-digest conclusion, the Bengals' still enjoyed a season that was for more fruitful than many predicted it would be back in August. "It was awesome," said Fuquay-Varina senior Joe Figueroa. "[The end] could have been better, but we're just going to have to swallow it and keep moving on. I could not have asked for a better season." Contact Tim Candon at 821-8697 or tcandon@wral.com.