Fitzgerald ends Worth County’s unbeaten streak

SYLVESTER — There was sadness in Sylvester Friday night.The No. 1-ranked Fitzgerald Hurricanes (6-0) used their strong run game and took advantage of Worth County mistakes to end the Rams’ six-game winning streak by a 42-0 score at Worth County Stadium. Worth County head coach Jeff Hammond had said earlier in the week that his team was unbeaten partially because they had gotten some breaks. The Rams got no breaks Friday night and in fact, it seemed like every call went against the Rams until the score was already 42-0.

The Hurricanes took the opening kickoff and slowly marched all the way down the field with machine-like precision. There were no huge plays but play after play the ‘Canes picked up five or six yards as they moved down the field. The opening drive took more than eight minutes and ended with the ‘Canes leading 7-0. The Rams got the ball and their first possession lasted less than a minute before they had to punt the ball back to the Hurricanes. The ‘Canes scored again on the first play of the second quarter and led 14-0 when it looked as though the Rams were going to answer. A 10-yard gain by freshman running back Kayden Chester and then a 40-yard plus gain by quarterback Chip Cooper had the Rams at the Fitzgerald five-yard line, but Cooper’s big run was called back because of a holding penalty.

Senior defensive back Quan Frier gave the Rams another chance when he picked off a Fitzgerald pass and the Rams also got a rare call against the Hurricanes on a personal foul penalty. That moved the ball into Hurricane territory and then sophomore wide receiver D’ontae Fulton made a one-handed circus-type catch as he worked to keep his feet inbounds. He made the catch inbounds and went out at the three-yard line. Cooper ran into the end zone on the next play, but again, a penalty called the play back and the Rams never could recover.

Worth County began the second half with renewed optimism and determination. After all, the Rams had come back the previous two weeks to win. But that optimism was short-lived as the ‘Canes scored three times within the first four minutes of the third quarter.

The loss drops the Rams to 6-1 on the season and 2-1 in Region 1-AA. Fitzgerald improves to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the region. The Rams will be away next Friday night against Jeff Davis before returning back to Worth County Stadium to host Sumter County on Oct. 21.

Joe WhitfieldJoeWhitfield[email protected]