In a battle between two offenses operating in stark contrast to one another on Friday, Fort Campbell’s JP Perryman threw for a school-record 578 yards only to be outdone by Webster County’s ground game in a 73-48 Senior Night defeat.
In addition to Senior Night and Homecoming festivities, Fort Campbell inducted former standouts Micah Johnson and Antonio Andrews into the Marshall Patterson Hall of Fame. With the two former NFL players being honored, Perryman took the opportunity to etch his name in the program record book, but 436 yards on 55 rushes by Webster County and a pair of back-breaking kickoff-return scores rained on the Falcon parade.
The Trojans arrived on post on a three-game slide but led 15-0 late in the opening quarter after a five-yard scoring run by Preston Doepel, and a seven-yard touchdown connection from Blake Hanor to Aden Walker.
After going run-heavy on their opening two possessions, the Falcons marched down the field quickly on the strength of Perryman’s arm and he finished the drive with a six-yard TD run with just over a minute left in the first quarter.
A two-yard play-action pass from Hanor to Walker had the Trojans in the endzone again, but Fort Campbell’s Maurice Moore answered with the first of his five TD receptions, hauling in a pass over the middle for a 22-yard strike.
However, Webster County delivered a gut punch courtesy of a 73-yard kickoff return touchdown to restore a two-score advantage. After Hanor found the endzone on a three-yard plunge to make it 36-13 and on the verge of getting out of hand, Moore snatched some momentum back for the Falcons with a touchdown on an eight-yard screen pass just before halftime.
Moore was at it again inside the first minute of the second half when he scored on a 17-yard screen, but once again a Webster County special teams haymaker wobbled the Falcons. Jarvis Starks-Scott picked up the ball on the kickoff after it was misplayed by a teammate and raced 74 yards for a 42-25 lead with still less than a minute played in the third quarter.
Perryman and Moore hooked up again for a 20-yard TD on 4th and 1, but the Trojans blew the game open over the remainder of the quarter. Hanor got in the endzone on a 1-yard keeper, Edens added a 31-yard TD run, and Perryman was sacked in the endzone for a 58-32 Webster lead.
In the fourth, Hanor sandwiched a 37-yard Moore TD for the Falcons with scoring strikes to Walker and Edens to make it 73-40. On the final play of the game, Fort Campbell’s Keyshawn Dixon took a screen from Perryman and encountered no Trojan interference on the way to an 83-yard TD.
The Falcons outgained Webster 602 to 504 but threw a pair of interceptions, including one in the endzone in the second quarter that would have cut it to one score.
Hanor threw for four TDs and ran for two more. Walker scored on all three of his catches, and Edens had two catches for 41 yards and a score. Starks-Scott rushed 12 times for 189 yards, Edens carried 13 times for 121 yards and a touchdown, and Doepel collected 94 yards on the ground and a score.
Perryman completed 24 of his 33 passing attempts, connecting with Moore 13 times for 255 yards. Dixon had five catches for 198 yards and a TD, and Christopher Talbot had a catch for 28 yards.
Fort Campbell closed the regular season with two straight losses to finish 5-5. The Falcons will host Murray High in the the first round of the playoffs next week. The Tigers have won the last six matchups in the series, including a 49-0 result last season.
