Big plays send Fairley to win over White Station
By Pete Wickham
Special to The Commercial Appeal
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Fairley 26, (10) White Station 10
If the small army of college coaches pursuing Fairley senior Martavius Neloms needs a fresh highlight reel, Friday night’s 26-10 win over White Station ought to do the trick.
Neloms’ finger- and footprints were all over the Bulldogs’ victory over the 10th-ranked Spartans at Halle Stadium. He racked up a dozen tackles and intercepted two passes on defense, where he is expected to play at the next level.
White Station’s Brandon Hayes is stopped by Fairley’s defense in the first half of the Bulldogs’ 26-10 victory.
In the third period, after Neloms’ first interception, he hauled in a 42-yard fourth-down pass from Devin Stark on a fake punt. That led to Terrence Harris’ 5-yard TD run, which gave the Bulldogs a 26-10 edge going into the final period.
Neloms’ teammate, Antoine Walker, also contributed big-play touchdowns — an 89-yard reception from Stark and a 70-yard block field goal return.
“I like the interceptions, because DB is my main position,” Neloms said. “But everything comes because of the hard work we put in on the practice field and in the weight room. All that work is paying off.”
The Bulldogs (4-2) limited White Station (2-3) to just seven yards rushing, in large part because of their seven sacks of Spartans quarterback Andrew Marino. Three were by lineman Jimmy Robinson.
“We been playing defense as well as we think we should,” Fairley coach Rahnmann Slocum said. “Tonight the defense really stepped up.”
Stark threw for 176 yards, including a 20-yard pass that Walker turned into an 89-yard score to put Fairley ahead 7-3 on its first possession. The Bulldogs got 105 yards rushing from Derrick Murrell and a 12-yard TD run in the third quarter from Artavious Gregory.
“We make our skill guys run track, and that improves their football speed,” Slocum said.
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FAIRLEY 26, WHITE STATION 10
Fairley 13 0 13 0 — 26
White Station 3 7 0 0 — 10
W — Brennan Wilbanks 36 FG
F — Antoine Walker 89 pass from Devin Stark (Roregis Garrett kick)
F — Antoine Walker 70 block field goal return (kick failed)
W — Anthony Hayes 1 run (Brennan Wilbanks kick)
F — Artavious Gregory 12 run (Roregis Garrett kick)
F — Terrence Harris 5 run (kick failed)
F W
First downs 14 9
Net yards rushing 127 52
Net yards passing 176 140
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Fairley, Derrick Murrell 11-108.
PASSING — Fairley, Devin Stark 5-8-176-1, De’Andre Buford 0-1-0-0. White Station, Andrew Marino 12-24-140-3.
RECEIVING — Fairley, Antoine Walker 1-89. White Station, Julian Burton 4-67, Keon Johnson 3-45.
RECORDS — Fairley 4-2, White Station 2-3.
Sourece: commercialappeal.com