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Fox Creek Predators become prey in home opener with 38-7 loss to Panthers

web posted August 20, 2007
NORTH AUGUSTA – MeBee High set the tone early and went on to post a 38-7 win over Fox Creek High Predators at Lions Memorial Field Friday in the season opener for both teams. That statement came in the form of a 17-play drive after the opening kickoff that took over eight minutes off the clock.

The Panthers kept the ball exclusively on the ground in the opening drive with Santonio Wright scoring the touchdown from the 2-yard line. McBee’s ground game was so effective that they rushed for over 300 yards on the night. McBee alternated 10 backs to accumulate the yardage. Their starting quarterback, Matt Mixon completed only one pass while backup Julian Steen missed on two others.

While McBee won the battle of ball control Fox Creek’s offense could not generate momentum. Quarterback Dylan Barnhart completed a first down pass to E.J. Bijur on their first play from scrimmage, but the Predators would go for a long time before their next first down.

McBee scored on their next two possessions to go up 24-0 with 8:25 left in the first half. The third touchdown came on a 5-yard run by Terrence Wright to end a two-play drive after Fox Creek punter Ryan Jackson had to run deep into his own territory to recover a high snap.

A fumble on the ensuing kickoff gave McBee the ball back at the Fox Creek 43-yard line. They moved to the Predators’ 5-yard line in four plays before Delonta Dunlap ran it in for the touchdown. The fourth successful two-point conversion made is 32-0 with 6:31 left in the first half.

A 23-yard run by Bijur helped the Predators move to the McBee 40-yard line on their next possession. Their drive stalled after two runs produced no gain and Barnhart was sacked trying to complete a pass on fourth down.

McBee went up 38-0 in the third quarter when lineman Darus Williams recovered a Dunlap fumble in the end zone. Fox Creek’s Taylor Bishop broke through to block the extra point attempt.

The Predators brought the home fans to their feet with a long touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. Barnhart completed three consecutive passes to move the team from the Fox Creek 20 to the McBee 48-yard line. Two of the completions went to Stephen Bates while the third went to Troy Johnson. Barnhart found Cody Willing on another completion before finding an open Bates on a 23-yard touchdown pass. Jackson kicked the extra point to make the final 38-7.

“Flat” was the first word Fox Creek head coach Russell Schneider used in describing the team’s performance.

In terms of statistics, Barnhart completed eight passes for a total of 131 yards to lead Fox Creek. Bijur rushed for 37 to lead the Predators’ ground game. McBee’s Justin Bristow ran for 94 to lead all backs. On defense Fox Creek’s Evan Tapley recovered a pair of fumbles.

Fox Creek hits the road this week to face Southside Christian. Kickoff for that game is set for 7:30 p.m.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

McBee              8    24    6    0 (38)
Fox Creek         0     0    0    7   (7)
 

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