Fairley Football

by Mark Hogan

Tonight’s game was the way Homecomings are designed to be.  Beautiful girls in their homecoming dresses, plenty of alumni, the band arriving before the game starts and the home team winning by a big margin. Fairley played a complete game on both sides of the ball to dominate Northside and advance to a first round match-up next week in the state playoffs against Jackson Liberty.

Fairley came out with a good mix of runs and passes to march the ball downfield and cap off the drive with a 19 yard run for a TD by Bowlegs. After stopping Northside on the next possession Devin Stark hit Derrick Murrell for a touchdown on an 89 yard pass. De’Andre Buford hit Stark for the two point conversion, as Stark leapt over his coverage to snag the pass.

The defensive line comprised of Carl Lewis, Cliets Walker, Wayne Lauderdale and Jimmy Robinson dominated their opponents across the line leading to numerous overthrows by the quarterback and multiple tackles for loss.

Other highlights from the game included:
* Cliets Walker recovery of a blocked punt (Oh how bad Cliets wanted to pick that ball up and run for a touchdown)
* Bowlegs with additional TD runs of 29 and 3 yards. He also had a 50 yard run but was tackled at Northsie’s one yard line.
* Tay had a 90 interception return for a touchdown. (If anyone ever doubted Tay’s speed, they wouldn’t if they saw him hit the afterburners running down that sideline)
* Terrence “Juicy” Harris 4 yard run for a touchdown.
* 10 yard touchdown run by Justin Elliott.
* Fumble recovery on a kickoff by freshman Kendall Sistrunk.

Fairley ends an outsanding 2008 regular season with a record of 8-2 and a number 2 seed in the region.

Click here to see the complete TSAA Division I 4A playoff bracket.  Click here for a printable version of the bracket.

PLAYOFF PAIRINGS
CLASS 4A
Kingsbury at Henry County
Jackson Liberty vs. Fairley
Hardin County vs. East
Melrose at Brighton

They also finished the season at number 5 in the Commercial Appeal’s Dandy Dozen.

1. Mem. Univ. School (10-0) beat St. Benedict, 59-7
2. Millington (10-0) won at Cordova, 31-7
3. Olive Branch (8-2) won at Columbus, 41-28
4. Whitehaven (9-1) beat Wooddale, 40-6
5. Fairley (8-2) beat Northside, 47-0
6. Melrose (6-4) lost to East, 30-25
7. Cordova (8-2) lost to Millington, 31-7
8. East (8-2) won at Melrose, 30-25
9. Houston (7-3) lost to White Station, 35-17
10. Germantown (8-2) beat Hamilton, 41-8
11. White Station (7-3) won at Houston, 35-17
12. Collierville (6-4) beat Kirby, 35-20

REGION 8-4A
At J.P. Freeman
FAIRLEY 47, NORTHSIDE 0
Northside    0    0    0    0    —    0
Fairley    20    14    7    6    —    47

F — Artavious Gregory 19 run (pass failed)
F — Derrick Murrell 91 pass from Devin Stark (Devin Stark pass from De’Andre Buford)
F — Artavious Gregory 28 run (kick failed)
F — Artavious Gregory 4 run (pass failed)
F — Martavious Neloms 90 interception return (Xavier Clay run)
F — Terrence Harris 5 run (Roregis Garrett kick)
F — Justin Elliott 10 run (run failed)
N       F
First downs               6      16
Net yards rushing    19    161
Net yards passing    27    219

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Northside, Darrell Taper 22-58. Fairley, Artavious Gregory 7-113.
PASSING — Northside, Phillip Harris 2-5-27-1. Fairley, Devin Stark 8-12-219-0.
RECEIVING — Fairley, De’Andre Buford 3-51, Derrick Murrell 2-103.
RECORDS — Northside 1-9 (0-5, Region 8-4A), Fairley 8-2 (4-1, Region 8-4A).

source:  commercialappeal.com & tssaa.org