With no postseason on the horizon and an eleven-game losing streak dating back to 2019, the Fort Campbell football team could have easily rolled over when facing an early two-touchdown deficit on Friday night. Instead, the Falcons produced their best performance of the season to earn a dramatic 36-34 win over visiting Webster County in an emotional season finale.
It was Senior Night and Homecoming at Fryar Stadium, but it looked early on like Webster County would be the one doing the celebrating. The Trojans threw a wet blanket over the proceedings when Timothy Maddox-Catlin took the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown.
Webster doubled the lead with two minutes to play in the 1st quarter on a 12-yard scoring run by Derek Adams. Looking to answer, the Falcons drove to inside the 10-yard line for the second time in the opening quarter, but went backward on both occasions and turned the ball over on downs.
The Trojans faked a punt early in the 2nd quarter and were stopped in their own end, with the Falcons taking over on the Webster 30-yard line. Fort Campbell quarterback Patrick Hayes hit Maurice Moore for a completion down to the 15-yard line, and Darrion Hutson finished off the drive with a 12-yard touchdown run around the right side. The Falcons’ extra point was blocked and they trailed 14-6 with 7:10 left in the 2nd quarter.
The final 3:30 of the half saw three touchdowns, beginning with a short scoring run by Webster’s Ty Hatfield. Fort Campbell’s Hayes found Nico Guffey down the sideline for a 32-yard completion, and Hayes dove in the endzone from a yard out with 2:27 on the clock. The 2-point try failed and the Falcons still trailed by two scores.
However, the Trojans drove down the field in the final seconds and Gavin Walker hit Noah Duncan in the back of the endzone for a 28-12 advantage at the break.
The second half belonged to the Falcons, beginning with a fumble recovery by Hutson to give them the ball near midfield with 5:20 left in the quarter.
Hayes connected with Moore and he broke multiple tackles for a 55-yard gain down inside the 1-yard line. Hayes ran it in on 1st down and then added the 2-point conversion in the same fashion to pull the Falcons to within eight points.
With 2:17 left in the 3rd, Hayes rumbled 48 yards for a score and again added the 2-point try, tying the game at 28-28 and whipping the Homecoming crowd into a frenzy.
Webster County looked set to once again grab the advantage when the Trojans set up with a 1st and goal from the Fort Campbell 3, but the Falcon defense held for four downs and took over on their own 6-yard line with 4:59 to go.
With their backs to their own goal line, Hayes got the Falcons some breathing room with a 29-yard completion to Jontae Al-Muid. Hutson delivered the Falcons’ play of the season on 1st down, breaking free and outrunning the Webster defense for a 65-yard touchdown to give Fort Campbell its first lead of the game with 4:20 left on the clock.
Hayes added another 2-point conversion on a wild play, recovering a high snap and weaving his way to the endzone for a 36-28 lead.
With the Falcons and their fans smelling a first win of the season, Webster County threatened to force overtime on its final possession. With :36 left, the Trojans converted on 4th and 5 from the Falcon 26-yard line on a pass to Blake Hanor down to just short of the goal line.
Duncan punched it in for a 36-34 score with :31 left, leaving the Trojans needing to add the 2-point try to extend the game. After a timeout, Webster County tried to run the option to the right side, but the Falcons saw it coming and stuffed it behind the line of scrimmage.
With only one timeout remaining, Webster couldn’t get the ball back and the Falcons took a knee once to run out the clock and release two years of frustration.
Fort Campbell will be one of a very small number of teams across the state to win its last game of the season, while Webster County will dust itself off for a trip to Union County in the opening round of the playoffs.
