 Eric Swinney racked up two scores for the Patriots.
(Photo by Michael Clifton / www.kombatkamera.com) The Sandy Creek Patriots extended their record to 4-0 and kept Fayette County winless at 0-4 with a dominant 55-14 home victory on Friday night.
The story for the Patriots was a familiar one: the aggressive defense made big plays and the array of offensive weapons took turns piling up yards and touchdowns. Quarterback Cole Garvin was sharp again, distributing the ball to six different targets on his way to 198 passing yards and two touchdowns in just one half of play. Five Patriots scored in the game: running backs Eric Swinney (2 TD, 58 yards) and Delvin Weems (1 TD, 26 yards); wide receivers Justin Sumpter (2 TD, 53 yards) and Demarre Kitt (1 TD, 63 yards); and linebacker Khari Lain (1 TD, 1 int, 6 tackles).
Fayette opened the game with promise, picking off Cole Garvin and driving down into the red zone on the strength of a big first down reception by Montrel Kelley and a long run by quarterback Jason Williams. Unfortunately, Williams threw a ball into double coverage in the end zone two plays later, one of two interceptions on the night that came at unfortunate times. Overall, though, he had a solid passing performance, racking up 183 yards and a touchdown to Ashton Jackson against an extremely stingy Sandy Creek team. Jackson had 117 receiving yards, and with another score tacked on by Montrel Kelly, Fayette became the first team this year to score double digits against the Patriots. Antonio Messick added 53 receiving yards on three catches, along with 95 yards on four kick returns.
Following the interception deep in their own territory, Sandy Creek quickly scored their first touchdown with a 35 yard gainer off right tackle by Eric Swinney followed by a wide receiver screen to Demarre Kitt that busted free for a 49 yard score.
Fayette muffed the ensuing kickoff, leaving themselves in the shadow of their own end zone. Linebacker Khari Lane intercepted the ball at the 9 yard line and Swinney promptly scored again with a slick upfield cut for a 9 yard score to make it 14-0.
The Tigers were fairly stout against the run in the first half, but just couldn't do anything to bother Cole Garvin. Given any time in the pocket, Garvin can pick apart a secondary as well as any quarterback in the state, and he does so in what looks like a casual fashion. His reads, and throws, were on point in this game as he distributed the ball all over the field, methodically moving the chains on the way to a 38-0 halftime advantage.
Fayette responded with a touchdown in the third and fourth quarter against a Patriot defense that has given up very few touchdowns on the year, but it wasn't nearly enough as Sandy Creek coasted to the win.
Sandy Creek (4-0) will hit the road to play Troup this Friday. Fayette (0-4) will host Carrollton. |
