Fayetteville’s Seth Allen rushes behind aggressive blocking for a first down in the Rockets’ Sept. 22 game against Batavia.

 

By Wade Linville – 

Week five on the gridiron saw the Western Brown Broncos fall to the Bethel-Tate Tigers in a non-league game at Bethel, while the Fayetteville-Perry Rockets suffered their first loss of the season while hosting the Batavia Bulldogs in a non-league contest.
After performing well in their first four weeks on the gridiron to rise to a 4-0 record, the Fayetteville-Perry Rockets struggled to execute their game plan against the now 4-1 Bulldogs in week five.
The Bulldogs reached pay dirt for their first touchdown of the night with 7:52 to go in the first quarter, as junior running back Jason Griffin capped off a drive with a short touchdown run to give Batavia an early 6-0 lead.
An interception by Batavia’s Cullen Gerrard brought the Bulldog offense back on the field to start their next drive from the 50-yard line, and it was Griffin topping off that drive with a short touchdown run with just under a minute to go in the first quarter. Following the successful attempt at the two-point conversion, the Bulldogs led 14-0.
The Rocket offense was forced to start their next drive at their own four-yard line following a well-placed kick off by the Bulldogs, and it was an interception by Batavia’s Will Scaggs that brought the Bulldog offense back on the field to work from the Fayetteville 20-yard line. It was Scaggs reaching the end zone on a quarterback keeper, cruising just over 20 yards for a touchdown to aid the Bulldogs to a 21-0 lead with just over 38 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs went on to outscore the Rockets 21-0 in the second quarter to hold a 42-0 lead at halftime break.
The Bulldogs totaled 443 offensive yards compared to Fayetteville-Perry’s 91 yards of offense.
Griffin led Bulldog rushers with 133 yards and three touchdowns off nine carries.
Hunter Jester led Fayetteville rushers with 31 yards off eight carries.
The Bulldogs totaled 389 yards on the ground and 54 in the air, while the Rockets managed 51 yards on the ground and 40 in the air.
The Western Brown Broncos have struggled for wins while taking on some tough non-league opponents in the first half of their season, dropping to an overall record on 1-4 with the week five loss at Bethel-Tate High School.
It was a non-league bout that saw the teams tied at 14 apiece at halftime break, but it was the Bethel-Tate Tigers pulling ahead in the second half to claim a 33-28 win. The Tigers rose to an overall record of 5-0 with the Sept. 22 win over Western Brown.
The Broncos totaled 481 yards off offense compared to Bethel-Tate’s 378 offensive yards.
Western Brown’s junior quarterback Josh Taylor completed 15-of-32 pass attempts for a total of 238 passing yards, delivering two touchdown passed.
The Broncos totaled 243 yards on the ground, led by Taylor’s 20 carries for 186 rushing yards.
Western Brown senior receiver Wyatt Fischer pulled down six receptions for 125 yards and one touchdown, while Western Brown’s sophomore receiver Keegan Collins snared eight receptions for 96 yards and one touchdown.
The Tigers totaled 242 rushing yards and 136 passing yards.
Owen Holtke led the Tiger’s running game with 120 yards off 22 carries, while quarterback Seth Becker took 30 carries for 114 yards an two touchdowns.
On the defensive end, Fischer snatched two interceptions while Western Brown’s Ryan Sizemore recorded one sack.