David Fuson and Aaron Noe, District 2-AA’s top two rushers, scored two touchdowns each and rushed for over a hundred yards each in a game where they both saw limited action. Fuson led all rushers with 143 yards on 15 carries, while Noe had 121 yards on 7 carries. Fuson also had 57 yards on two kick-off returns.
After holding Hancock County (0-4) to three and out to start the game, Claiborne (3-1, 1-0) drove 69 yards in 10 plays, scoring on an 8-yard run on first and goal by Aaron Noe. Jacob Blankenship kicked the point after to give Claiborne a 7-0 lead with 5:36 to go in the first quarter.
“We came out and moved the ball fairly well on the first drive,” said Coach Barry Liles. “We took it down field and scored so I was pleased with that.”
The touchdown came after David Fuson converted on a fourth and four from the 20. Noe had the big play of the drive when he turned a second and 25 at his 29 into a first and ten at the Hancock 41. Jacob Crigger carried twice on the drive for 17 yards adding yet another threat to district’s most productive rushing attack.
The Indians failed to corral a squib kick on the ensuing kick-off and Claiborne’s Shane Bailey recovered at the Hancock 48-yard line.
However, on the first play of the drive, Hancock County’s Hunter Carpenter intercepted Cody Malone’s pass to the flat and returned it to the Bulldog’s 44.
It appeared the turnover might be of little consequence as Jacob Sandifer and Adam Ament dropped the Indians’ Cody Gibson for an 11-yard loss on the first play of the drive, setting up second and 21.
But Hancock’s gritty fullback Jordan Horton ran for a first down on the next play to the Claiborne 29.
A controversial personal foul call against the Bulldogs on the following play ignited a minor on-the-field protest by Coach Liles and drew a sideline warning for Claiborne.
With the ball first and ten from the Bulldog 13, it took the Indians four downs to score.
Claiborne defensive back Tyler Barnette made a big hit to bring up fourth down by stopping Hancock’s Michael Canter at the Claiborne 4-yard line after he caught a quick pass from Gibson.
Josh Trent scored on a 4-yard run for the Indians on fourth and two. Dustin Dunsmore’s kick tied the game at 7-7.
“Give Hancock County credit,” said Liles. “ They played hard and have improved a great deal over the last few years.”
Fuson returned the ensuing kick-off 28 yards with a vengeance out to the Claiborne 44 to give the Bulldogs great field position.
He then took the first handoff, blasted into the secondary and then to the left sideline going 32 yards to the Hancock 24.
Four plays later, Fuson ran for a 2-yard touchdown. Blankenship added the extra point and the Bulldogs led 14-7 less than a minute into the second quarter.
Josh Roberts put Claiborne back into the end zone when he intercepted Gibson on Hancock’s second play of the next drive and returned it 31-yards for a touchdown. Blankenship booted through his third straight extra point to give Claiborne a 21-7 lead with 10:13 left.
Claiborne’s Ryan Nelson recovered a fumble at the Hancock County 44-yard line two plays into the Indians next possession and the Bulldogs offense went back to work.
Two pass plays from Malone to sophomore Austin Neely accounted for 30 yards. On the second reception Neely made a nice move to the inside turning a short pass into a 17-yard gain to the Hancock 14.
Three plays later Fuson, also the district’s leading scorer, tallied another touchdown on a 3-yard run. Blankenship’s extra point attempt missed just to the left, but Claiborne was in control 27-7 with 6:27 to go before halftime.
Claiborne forced Hancock into a fourth and three and out on the next series.
The Bulldogs then drove 78 yards in five plays scoring on a 1-yard run by Noe. The touchdown came following a 37-yard run where he was tripped up from behind falling just short of the goal line.
Crigger also carried twice on the drive for 32 yards. Michael Loggins caught Malone’s only pass attempt on the drive for 8 yards. The extra point failed, but Claiborne led 33-7 at the half.
“Overall, I thought the offense looked pretty well in the first half,” said Liles.
“Defensively, we gave up more yards than we should have early, but they settled down and played like we expected them to.”
Besides a nifty, stiff-arming 20-yard run by starting quarterback Cody Malone on the second play of the third quarter, the second half was for the most part a scrimmage between Claiborne’s second team and Hancock County’s varsity.
Neely took over at quarterback on the fourth play of the second half and watched hard runs by sophomore Dakota Massengill, freshman Jeremy Hurst and Tyler Hatfield take the Bulldogs down to first and goal at the Indians’ 8-yard line. But Hancock recovered a mishandled pitch-out at the 10 to thwart a scoring drive by Claiborne’s second team with 8:16 left in the third.
A long pass play on third and nine from Gibson to Canter then set up Hancock first and ten at their 41. But big defensive plays by Matt Declercq and Robby Shackleford led to a Hancock County punt attempt.
A mishandled snap left Indian punter Dustin Dunsmore with no chance to kick and the Bulldog’s punt rush buried him at his own 23.
Claiborne didn’t capitalize on the field position and the battle went on into the fourth quarter after a scoreless third.
With 7:00 left in the game, Matt Girdner intercepted Gibson, giving Claiborne the ball at its 42.
Claiborne’s next possession never really got started as consecutive penalties made it first and 20 from the 32.
Hancock County’s Brandon Collins then blasted through the line and separated Neely from the ball allowing the Indians to recover at the Claiborne 23.
On the first play Gibson lofted a perfect pass down the middle to Canter in stride in the end zone to give Hancock County its second touchdown of the night with 5:15 remaining. Gibson then hit Carpenter for the two-point play to cut Claiborne’s lead to 33-15.
Coach Liles then made the decision to insert the offensive starters again in an effort to reestablish Claiborne’s control of the game
“I put the first team back in there to kind of get everything settled again,” said Liles, who was also conscious of the Gibbs rally in the second game of the season that saw the Eagles comeback from 12 points down in the last two and a half minutes to give Claiborne its only loss.
For a moment, it looked like that decision hadn’t worked.
From the Claiborne 36, an eager Fuson then took his first handoff of the second half and galloped downfield picking up 19-yards before being stripped of the ball from behind allowing Hancock to recover at its 43. The Indians and their faithful believed they still had a chance.
Claiborne’s Roberts silenced the Sneedville crowd with his second interception of the night when he snagged Gibson’s long pass at his 25, giving the ball right back to the Bulldogs. A personal foul against Claiborne put the ball half the distance to the goal near the 13.
Coach Liles’ team marched 87 yards with ease against a tired Indian defense. A 22-yard jaunt by Fuson and a relentless 32-yard run by Noe set up an 8-yard touchdown run by Crigger to close out the scoring for the night with 1:12 left. The extra point was no good but Claiborne led 39-15.
Defensive lineman Adam Ament put the exclamation point on the victory with a bone jarring sack on Gibson in the final few seconds.
The Bulldogs chalked up 19 first downs and 374 yards of total offense, rushing 46 times for 327 yards. Malone completed 4 of 7 for 47 yards and 1 interception. Neely was 0 for 1 passing, but led receivers with 3 catches for 38 yards.
Claiborne’s 39 points was a season high, but not far off their average of 35 points per game.
Hancock County had 5 first downs on the night with 146 yards total offense. Gibson completed 5 of 12 for 71 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions.
Claiborne will be looking for its fourth win of the season as it takes on old rival Union County Friday night at Claiborne Field.
Scoring by quarters:
1 2 3 4 F
Claiborne 7 26 0 6 39
Hancock 7 0 0 8 15
Scoring summary:
Cla- Noe 8 run (Blankenship kick)
Han-Trent 4 run (Dunsmore kick)
Cla- Fuson 2 run (Blankenship Kick)
Cla- Roberts 31 interception return (Blankenship Kick)
Cla- Fuson 3 run (Kick failed)
Cla- Noe 1 run (Kick failed)
Han- Trent 23 pass (Gibson to Carpenter)
Cla- Crigger 8 run (Kick failed)
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