Fountain Lake makes history

Campbell kicks 2 FGs, Cobras stop Leopards

Fountain Lake junior running back Steven DeArmon (4) changes course in the backfield in his attempt to pick up yardage in Friday's game against Malvern. - Photo by Corbet Deary of The Sentinel-Record
Fountain Lake junior running back Steven DeArmon (4) changes course in the backfield in his attempt to pick up yardage in Friday's game against Malvern. - Photo by Corbet Deary of The Sentinel-Record

MALVERN -- Fountain Lake made history Friday night as the Cobras picked up their second-ever win over the Malvern Leopards, 18-14.

A big part of that win was dependent upon the foot of kicker Wesley Campbell who kicked two field goals to bookend the scoring for the Cobras (3-3, 1-3 4A-7).

"I believe this is the first time -- I can't say officially in school history -- but I know in the past 15 years that we've never had a field goal kicker make two field goals in one game," said head coach Kenny Shelton. "And, you know, I almost want to say school history, but I can't -- I go back a long ways but there's a few years I wasn't around, but not in my memory that we've had a kid. And those were big -- big, big, big. You know, that's six points right there. If we don't make those field goals, you know, we don't win the game."

Fountain Lake's win came despite several big penalties. The Cobras had 10 calls against them for 100 yards. Three of those were 15-yard penalties, one an unsportsmanlike conduct call that saw the ejection of assistant David DeArmon.

Malvern (4-4, 3-2) was not immune to penalties, moving back 67 yards on 12 calls, including one leading to the ejection of TreSean Moorman.

Malvern sophomore quarterback Cedric Simmons struggled at times throughout the game, a fact that head coach J.D. Plumlee put on his youth.

"A thing a lot of people forget he's just a sophomore, and they expect him to to do all this, and he's learning every snap, and he'll continue to learn," he said. "You know, the kid's mentally tough, and he's going to learn from some of those throws, and, you know, we have 100% confidence in him being our quarterback. He'll learn from it and grow from it, and, you know, when you play a game there's a winner and a loser, and you're not going to win them all, so you've got to learn how to ... get better when you win and get better when you lose."

After falling behind early, the Leopards managed to take a 14-9 lead into the break, but the Cobras managed to keep control of the ball for much of the second half. Malvern was limited to just three possessions in the second half for 6 minutes, 16 seconds compared to just under 18 minutes for the Cobras.

"Hats off to Fountain Lake," Plumlee said. "You know, we had the ball only three times the second half, and one of the possessions comes with, what, two or three minutes left in the game with no timeout. You know, hats off to them to keep getting first downs and just, you know, keeping it away from us."

The Cobras had a big play late in the third quarter. With the Leopards driving, Asa Westerman picked off a deep pass by Simmons to turn the game around.

"It's probably one of the best high school interceptions I've ever seen," Shelton said. "It was on Malvern's sidelines, so it was hard for us to see on our sideline, but watching the film last night, you know, he one-hands it, and then he has the presence of mind to look down. You can see him look down and make sure, not only did he get one foot, which is all he needs, but he got two feet in before he went out. ... It was an amazing interception, and he's had some great catches at receiver, but that was probably one of the best interceptions I've seen in quite some time."

The interception led to Fountain Lake's final points. Campbell capped the 17-play, 54-yard drive with a 23-yard field goal to set the final with 4:34 off the clock in the fourth quarter.

The Cobras defense also had some big stops late in the fourth. Following an incomplete pass, Caleb Lacy lasered his focus on Simmons, chasing the speedy quarterback out of bounds for a 6-yard loss. Another incomplete pass and a delay of game penalty put the Leopards in a fourth-and-21 situation, and Simmons found Martin, but Westerman caught the receiver a yard short of the marker to put the Cobras in victory formation.

"That was huge, you know, and watching it back on film, it was even closer than I thought at the time," Shelton said. "Of course, I was pretty close to the sticks when we came up and made the tackle, and, you know, that that was the game-winning tackle right there. ... If we don't come up and make that play right there, you know, they've still got, you know a little bit over a minute, minute and a half or so left, and definitely within striking range."

The Cobras host Haskell Harmony Grove (0-8, 0-5) Friday, and Malvern travels to Nashville (5-2, 3-1).

1Q2Q3Q4Q--F

Fountain Lake3663--18

Malvern01400--14

First quarter

FL--Wesley Campbell 27 field goal, 3:06

Second quarter

Mal--Jacobe Hart 1 run (Jesus Rodea kick), 9:28

FL--Steven DeArmon 56 run (kick fail), 8:02

Mal--Carter Martin 4 pass from Cedric Simmons (Rodea kick), 0:16

Third quarter

FL--DeArmon 1 run (conversion fail), 7:03

Fourth quarter

FL--Campbell 23 field goal, 7:26

FLMal

First downs1518

Total yards273272

Rushes46-22829-136

Passing45136

Comp-Att-Int3-6-115-28-2

Punts1-371-24

Fumbles0-01-0

Penalties10-10012-67

Time of Possession26:4021:20

Individual statistics

Rushing--Fountain Lake, Steven DeArmon 25-179, Caleb Lacy 13-36, Asa Westerman 2-13, Jack Wurz 4-2. Malvern, Jacobe Hart 15-93, Cedric Simmons 12-40, Carter Martin 1-5, Malique Reliford 1-(minus-2).

Passing--Fountain Lake, Wurz 3-5-1-45, DeArmon 0-1-0-0. Malvern, Simmons 14-24-2-122.

Receiving--Fountain Lake, Westerman 3-31, Brayden Branstetter 1-14. Malvern, Dante Reed 7-87, Martin 6-38, Bud Johnson 2-11.

Malvern sophomore quarterback Cedric Simmons (3) avoids a tackle by senior cornerback Jack Wurz (13) in Friday's game at Malvern. - Photo by Corbet Deary of The Sentinel-Record
Malvern sophomore quarterback Cedric Simmons (3) avoids a tackle by senior cornerback Jack Wurz (13) in Friday's game at Malvern. - Photo by Corbet Deary of The Sentinel-Record

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