Fairland senior quarterback Peyton Jackson (12) is chased by West junior Kade Woods (65) in the Dragons’ 32-29 win in week one.

Courtesy of Joey Shupert of www.photojoeonline.com

WEST PORTSMOUTH — Fairland senior quarterback Peyton Jackson made the play of the game for his Dragons — with quite literally the game on the line.

With four seconds left in the fourth quarter — enough time for one final play — Jackson scrambled outside of the pocket and up his team’s sideline for a 15-yard touchdown run.

The game’s final play was indeed a walkoff winner for the Dragons, which traveled 64 yards on eight plays in the final 1:20 to secure a 32-29 week-one Friday night victory over host West.

Senators coach Todd Gilliland discussed the game-winning play afterwards.

“It’s one play. We’re one step away from sacking the quarterback. I think that’s going to be one of the best teams we play, especially offensively,” Gilliland said. “We preached it all this week that one play could be the difference. Great four-year quarterback, the pocket broke down, he scrambled out and was able to make it to the end zone. They’re so good at the receiver position you have to cover it. One step short of knocking him out of bounds.”

West managed a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to retake the lead with 1:20 left — after trailing by as many as 12 points early in the period.

Those touchdown drives were jumpstarted by two huge stops by the Senators’ defense, forcing a turnover on downs twice with Fairland threatening in the red zone.

“I’m not going to fault our effort. There were many occasions where Fairland had all the momentum, we could have folded, but we fought and kept fighting,” Gilliland said. “It’s one of those games where you find out what type of character you have.”

Freshman running back Anthony Bishop gave West the go-ahead touchdown with 1:20 remaining.

A successful two-point conversion run by senior Cole Tipton put the Senators ahead 29-26.

At the start of the fourth, an eight-yard touchdown run by Tipton and a successful point-after by Jack Holbrook cut the Dragon lead to 26-21.

“That last drive that we put together, our guys found their second wind,” Gilliland said. “We work hard in conditioning and staying in shape, and we knew this was one of those games where they were going to try and wear us down. Anthony comes in with some fresher legs was a factor on that last drive, but he’s also a good runner — he’s good. He found the holes and made some big time plays for us.”

Junior running back Mason Parker was the Senators’ leading rusher on Friday, totaling 107 yards on 12 carries — including a 71-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that began the game’s scoring.

West junior Mason Parker (2) uncorks a touchdown to senior wide receiver Jeffery Bishop during the second quarter of the Senators’ week-one game against Fairland.

Courtesy of Joey Shupert of www.photojoeonline.com

Parker also threw for a touchdown on a halfback pass — finding senior wide receiver Jeffery Bishop for a 26-yard score to put the Senators in front 14-13.

West senior Jeffery Bishop (18) and junior Mason Parker (2) celebrate their connection for a touchdown during the Senators’ week-one game versus Fairland.

Courtesy of Joey Shupert of www.photojoeonline.com

That score was set up by Bishop’s interception of Jackson on the previous play.

“Jeffery’s a guy that sometimes I think we take it for granted that he’s just going to make plays,” Gilliland said. “He’s a playmaker for us, did a great job of setting up that halfback pass. Mason made a great throw. He (Parker) played good and hard. For Cole, his first start under center at the varsity level. I can’t say enough about him and I think he’s going to get better each week. They’re guys who give you everything they have every week.”

 

West senior quarterback Cole Tipton (13) totes the ball during the Senators’ week one game versus Fairland.

Courtesy of Joey Shupert of www.photojoeonline.com

Fairland’s 32-29 victory gives it a three-game winning streak in its season-opening series that began in 2021 — all of which have been by three points or less.

The Senators (0-1) will look to bounce back on Friday (Aug. 25) night — when they welcome the Portsmouth Trojans (1-0) to ‘The Rock’ for their annual week-two meeting.

West earned a 34-7 win over Portsmouth last year at Trojan Coliseum.

“They’ve changed their style a little bit. Able to see them last night (Thursday night), physical downhill running team like the old Portsmouth team. We’re going to have to come ready to play, ready to tackle. They’ve got two tough backs who will make it tough. Have to come in and prepare, do what it takes to get this first win.”

***

BOX SCORE

Fairland 0 20 6 6 — 32

West 0 14 0 15 — 29

Scoring Plays

W — Mason Parker, 71-yard run (Jack Holbrook PAT good); 7-0 W 11:49 2Q

F — Keegan Smith, 14-yard pass, from Peyton Jackson (PAT blocked); 7-6 W 10:42 2Q

F — Peyton Jackson, 1-yard run (Aiden Miller PAT good); 13-7 F 6:37 2Q

W — Jeffery Bishop, 26-yard pass from Mason Parker (Jack Holbrook PAT good); 14-13 W 1:31 2Q

F — Quentin Cremeans, 9-yard run (Aiden Miller PAT good); 20-14 F :22 2Q

F — Kam Kitts, 5-yard run (PAT blocked); 26-14 F 3:54 3Q

W — Cole Tipton, 8-yard run (Jack Holbrook PAT good); 26-21 F 11:54 4Q

W — Anthony Bishop, 5-yard run (Cole Tipton run); 29-26 W 1:20 4Q

F — Peyton Jackson, 15-yard run; 32-29 F 0:00 4Q

Team Stats

Team	Fairland	West
Plays	63	52
Yards (Pass-Run)	402 (210-192)	363 (79-284)
First Downs	20	13
Turnovers	1	1
Penalties	5 for 45 yards	5 for 44 yards
Time of Possession	21:42	26:18

Individual Stats

Passing — Peyton Jackson (F) 17/33 210 yards, TD, INT; Cole Tipton (W) 3/5 53 yards, Mason Parker 1/1 26 yards TD

Rushing — Kam Kitts (F) 20-90 TD, Quentin Cremeans (F) 13-70 TD, Peyton Jackson (F) 9-32 2TD; Mason Parker (W) 12-107 TD, Anthony Bishop (W) 8-80 TD, Cole Tipton (W) 16-75 TD, Jeffery Bishop (W) 6-21, Cole Windsor (W) 1-1

Receiving — Brycen Hunt (F) 6-107, Keegan Smith (F) 5-50 TD, Jack Hayden (F) 4-31, CJ Graham (F) 1-9, Kam Kitts (F) 1-(-5); Mason Parker (W) 2-33, Jeffery Bishop (W) 1-26 TD, Jakob Tipton (W) 1-20

Reach Jacob Smith at (740) 370-0713 ext. 1930, by email at [email protected], or on Twitter @JacobSmithPDT © 2023 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved