Fairfield Central halts Newberry late
It probably won’t be the last time Fairfield Central and Newberry play this season, but it was definitely is one to remember.
Jarrell Suber-O’Neal scored the go-ahead touchdown run in the fourth quarter and Fairfield Central stopped Newberry’s Yafari Werts on the potential game-tying two-point conversion with 1:45 left to give the Griffins a 29-27 victory over the Bulldogs on Friday.
Fairfield Central (6-1, 2-0) takes over the lead in Region 3-2A over Newberry. The two teams will likely play each other in the playoffs, something that has happened the previous two seasons.
Fairfield Central QB Stanley McManus had 132 yards of total offense and his 10-yard touchdown pass to Ty Gibson tied it at 21 with 48 seconds left in the third quarter. The Griffins took the lead on their next possession when Suber-O’Neal scored on a 3-yard run and McManus ran in the conversion to make it 29-21 with 7:33 left.
Newberry (5-2, 1-1) answered with scoring drive as Amir Abrams scored on a 3-yard run. But Fairfield Central’s Jeff Russell tackled Yafari Werts, who was trying to score on the conversion on a sweep around the right side, to preserve the victory.
TURNING POINT
With the score tied at 21 in the fourth quarter, Fairfield Central forced a Newberry punt and Zchivago Hearndon returned it 40 yards to the Bulldogs’ 45. The Griffins scored the eventual winning touchdown a few plays later.
KEY PERFORMERS
Yafari Werts: Newberry’s Shrine Bowl QB ran for 130 yards and threw for 83 yards in the loss.
Stanley McManus: Fairfield Central QB ran for 67 yards and threw for 65, including a big 28-yard completion on the go-ahead TD drive.
KEY NUMBERS
7:33: The length of Newberry’s scoring drive to begin the third quarter and put the Bulldogs up 21-14.
4-1: Fairfield’s record against Newberry since 2012 with three of the wins coming in the playoffs.
THEY SAID IT
“Our defensive staff was able to make a good call and we were able to get that joker (Werts) on the ground for the first time tonight. It was a great deal.” – Fairfield Central coach Demetrius Davis on the deciding two-point conversion.
“We put it in his (Yafari) hands but the sad thing about it they knew what the play was. That’s my fault. We should have run a different play.” – Newberry coach Phil Strickland
“There were a lot of heavy hearts tonight but sometime you need football to get you back to life. We wanted to play and I am glad we got it done.” – Fairfield Central coach Demetrius Davis
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
N – Werts 60 run (kick failed), 8:07
FC – Ruff 1 run (kick failed), 2:35
N – Towns 63 pass from Werts (Day kick), 0:57
2nd Quarter
FC – Thomas 10 pass from McManus (Thomas pass from McManus), 0:26
3rd Quarter
N – Abrams 1 run (Werts run), 2:43
FC – Gibson 9 pass from McManus (Gregory kick), 0:48
4th Quarter
FC – Suber-O’Neal 3 run (McManus run), 7:33
N – Abrams 3 run (run failed), 1:45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: N: Werts 17-130, Abrams 17-76, Wadsworth 7-29 FC: McManus 17-67, Suber-O’Neal 7-45, Ruff 8-18, Woodard 1-23
Passing: N: Werts 3-8-0 83. FC: McManus 5-5-0 65
Receiving: N: Towns 2-6. FC: Mozie 1-19, Thompson 1-12, Sparks 1-28, Gibson 1-17
This story was originally published October 9, 2015 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Fairfield Central halts Newberry late."