Saturday, Aug. 20, 2011

Bengals roar in season opener

Fuquay-Varina capitalized on West Johnston miscues to build an early lead, then the Bengals cruised to a 42-19 season-opening win.

The Wildcats, coach by Fuquay alumnus Randy Ragland, got on the scoreboard first, as quarterback Justin Carroll found Darius Williams for a nine-yard touchdown pass. But Fuquay quickly tied things up on Ricky Fergerson’s seven-yard run, the first of his two touchdowns. Then, the second quarter was all Bengals. Quarterback, Evan McNeil hit Hayden Read in stride for a 20-yard touchdown pass.

The Fuquay defense then took advantage of a mishandled Wildcats hook-and-lateral. Garrett Suggs scooped the ball up from the turf and returned it 10 yards to give the Bengals a 21-7 cushion.

Just before intermission, Fergerson showed that he hasn’t lost a step from this 1,000 yard season in 2010. He took a handoff up the middle 92 yards for a touchdown to give the Bengals a 28-7 lead at the half.

“I learned a lesson from last year,” Fergerson said. “Don’t look back, just keep running. If you feel somebody hit your feet, just keep running. You’ll hear somebody on your back, but it’s just a good feeling to see all that open grass. Just run hard.”

The running back finished with a game-high 147 rushing yards.

The Wildcats got their growl back to start the third quarter. It took them only three plays to cover 53 yards. Carroll threw to Jonathan Stevens for a 25-yard touchdown. The extra point failed to leave the score 28-13.

On the next West Johnston possession, Carroll capped a 72-yard drive with a four yard touchdown run of his own to make it 28-19. But that’s as close as it got.

“You’re always worried when you have an inexperienced football team,” Fuquay coach Ryan Habich said. “I was really pleased with how our team responded. After they scored, we came back and scored. So I like the way our team fought through.”

The Bengals used a 33-yard McNeil to Read pass to set up Carlton Bridges one-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter. McNeil capped the scoring with a three-yard scoring run after a Suggs interception.