Fairland uses "Touchdown Express" to route Panthers

CHESAPEAKE — Two of the greatest tag teams in wrestling had the word express in their name — The Midnight Express and the Rock 'n' Roll Express. Well, quarterback Peyton Jackson and receiver Brycen Hunt may not be wrestlers, but the name "The Touchdown Express" sure has a nice ring to it. Jackson and Hunt teamed up for three touchdowns on Friday night to help lead the Fairland Dragons to a 38-2 win over the Chesapeake Panthers in the Ohio Valley Conference finale. The Dragons piled up 436 total yards of offense, as Jackson threw for 275 yards, four touchdown passes and a rushing score. Hunt caught eight balls for 87 yards and Christian Collins had a game-high 122 yards and a receiving score. Fairland (9-1, 6-1 OVC) got off to another fast start, as they took their opening possession of the game and took seven plays to find the end zone when Jackson scored on a nine-yard keeper. Aiden Miller would add the extra point to give the Dragon a 7-0 lead. After recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, the Dragons turned the mishap into points as Miller kicked a 27-yard field goal to extend Fairland's lead to 10-0 with 6:41 remaining in the opening quarter. Chesapeake (3-7, 0-7 OVC) would respond with a 15-play drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock. But on fourth-and-goal at the Fairland 5, Drew Plantz would complete a pass to Mason Giles that appeared to be a touchdown. But the officials ruled that the receiver came out of the end zone to catch the ball and was tackled at the one, giving the ball back to the Dragons. But two plays later, Dannie Maynard would tackle Jack Hayden for a loss in the end zone for a safety, making the score 10-2 with 9:19 remaining before halftime. Fairland forced a punt after the free kick and need just two plays to find the end zone, as Jackson would hit Christian Collins on a 65-yard strike to push the Dragons lead out to 17-2 with 6:48 before halftime. Then Jackson and Hunt would go to work in the second half, hooking up for touchdowns of 25, 6, and 11-yards on three-consecutive drives to begin the second half. Jackson completed all 10 of his pass attempts in the second half — five of which went to Hunt. The highlight play was a fade route in the back of the end zone to Hunt, who made a toe-tapping catch to give Fairland a 31-2 lead at the point. With the win, Fairland secured the No. 2 seed in Region 19 and home game for the firs two rounds. They will now wait to find out who they will face next week. Early indications have Portsmouth finishing No. 15. Fairland 10 7 14 7 = 38 Chesapeake 0 2 0 0 = 2 First Quarter Fa — Peyton Jackson 9 run (Aiden Miller kick), 8:13. Fa — Aiden Miller 27 field goal, 6:41. Second Quarter Ch — Jack Hayden tackled in the end zone by Dannie Maynard, 9:19. Fa — Christian Collins 65 pass from Peyton Jackson (Aiden Miller kick), 6:48. Third Quarter Fa — Brycen Hunt 35 pass from Peyton Jackson (Aiden Miller kick), 8:17. Fa — Brycen Hunt 6 pass from Peyton Jackson (Aiden Miller kick), 3:13. Fourth Quarter Fa — Brycen Hunt 11 pass from Peyton Jackson (Aiden Miller kick), 11:22. ——— Fa Ch First downs 20 10 Rushes-yards 29-161 39-59 Passing yards 275 43 Total yards 436 102 Cmp-Att-Int 19-23-1 6-12-0 Fumbles-lost 0-0 4-1 Penalties-yards 4-45 6-40 Punts-average 6-36.0 0-0 ——— Individual Leaders RUSHING–Fairland: Quentin Cremeans 9-55, Jack Hayden 7-48, Peyton Jackson 7-32 TD, Lucas Bompus 3-30, Tristian Dailey 1-minus 1, Christian Bompus 1-minus 4, Ryan McLain 1-1; Chesapeake: Phillip Thacker 10-35, Camron Shockley 17-24, Dannie Maynard 2-minus 2, Andrew Daniels 3-10, Drew Plantz 5-3, Ethan Kerns 1-minus 9, Team 1-minus 2. PASSING–Fairland: Peyton Jackson 19-23-1 275 4TD; Chesapeake: Jacob Harris 5-8-0 37, Drew Plantz 1-3-0 6, Ethan Kerns 0-1-0 0. RECEIVING–Fairland: Brycen Hunt 8-87 3TD, Keegan Smith 3-54, CJ Graham 1-6, Christian Collins 6-122 TD, Quentin Cremeans 1-6 ; Chesapeake: Dannie Maynard 1-11, Camron Shockley 2-18, Mason Giles 1-4, Andrew Daniels 1-7, Ethan Kerns 1-6.