Lake County Sentinel
Fairport Harding cruises to 34-7 win over Matthews
BY TIM SHIRER
SPORTS EDITOR
The Fairport Harding Skippers football team finally opened their season on Saturday night in Vienna, Ohio against the Matthews Mustangs. The game was originally scheduled for Friday night, but due to the heavy rain the game was delayed 24 hours. The wait was worth it for the visiting Skippers as they defeated the Mustangs 34-7 in a dominating performance.
The Skippers defense stifled the Mustangs offense from the first drive when Fairport’s Sophomore Jeremy Sundman intercepted a pass just seven seconds into the game. The Skippers could not capitalize on the turnover as they were forced to punt.
However the defense once again stopped the Mustangs and took possession of the ball at the Matthews 30 yard line and got on the board first with 5:02 left in the first quarter when Junior Josiah Cooper crossed the goal line from two yards out to give Harding a 7-0 lead.
After both teams traded punts on two possessions each the Skippers forced Mustangs to punt again after a 11-yard sack by Senior Quentin Piotrowski.
Halftime came with the Skippers on top 7-0.
The second half the Harding offense got on track as they scored 27 point in a span of 12:58 to seal the win.
Faiport’s first score of the second half came at the 6:24 mark of the third quarter when Sophomore Quarterback Will Fazekas kept the ball and ran in from one yard out, extending the lead to 14-0.
After the Fairport TD, the only blemish of the night against the Skippers came when Mustangs kick returner Senior Ryan Myers went 64 yards on the kickoff into the endzone for the score, cutting the Skippers lead to 14-7.
Two possessions later Fairport Senior Dominic Knesebeck recovered a Mustang fumble. The Skippers took advantage as Fazekas eventually took the ball into the endzone again from one yard out with :38 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 21-7
After the Harding defense once again stopped Matthews on downs the drive began with Fazekas hitting Junior Dillon Knesebeck for a 50-yard gain. Cooper eventually took the ball into the endzone from six yards out to give the Skippers a 27-7 lead after the extra point failed with 8:18 left in the fourth quarter.
After the Skippers defense forced another Mustangs fumble, Fazekas hit Junior Dillon Knesebeck from 29 yards to give Harding a 34-7 lead with 5:26 left.
Near the end of the game Mustangs Junior Isaiah Munno was ejected from the game as he was accessed his third personal foul.
Next week the Skippers will host the Chalker Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. Friday.
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @IndiansTim Check out our High School Scoreboard
POSTED 08/30/2020 00:59
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