GALLERY: Fountain Lake stuffs Magnet Cove in benefit game

FOUNTAIN LAKE -- A high-powered rushing attack saw the Fountain Lake Cobras defeat Magnet Cove 33-7 in a Thursday night's benefit game at Allen Tillery Field.

The teams played four 10-minute quarters, without live special teams, before ending the night with 10 offensive plays for each team.

Steven DeArmon led the charge for the Cobras on the night accounting for two touchdowns as the senior running back contributed on both sides of the ball.

"Steven played well," Fountain Lake head coach Kenny Shelton said. "He's really coming along well. I'm proud of him. All of our backs ran really hard."

Just like in previous years, Fountain Lake's team is low on numbers heading into the regular season. Multiple players played on both sides of the ball against the Panthers, and Shelton emphasized how important it was the Cobras ended the night with no injuries.

"One thing I think they really realize is we really need to get in better conditioning," he said. "We're really thin this year. Not a whole lot of depth. (Thursday night) started off really hot, and they realized there's a reason why we're conditioning and running."

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Last season, Fountain Lake did not get to play its scrimmage game or first game of the year and that impacted the team for a few weeks.

"This is so important," Shelton said. "(Last season) we were so far behind. It took us three or four weeks to actually feel like we were starting to catch up. This was great for conditioning, great to actually hit somebody else for a change. Really a good confidence booster with the outcome."

Magnet Cove head coach Caleb Carmikle said it was a disappointing night to be a Panther.

"I was very disappointed in the way that we played and the way we competed and the way we acted," he said. "We've got a lot to self reflect on. Certainly Fountain Lake is a very good football program, and I think they're going to have a good team, but our focus tonight was on us, and we didn't do a good job in any facet of the game -- offense, defense, special teams, the way we acted."

After the game, Carmikle spoke to his team in the end zone for a while, and while he wasn't worried about the scoreline in a benefit game, he told his squad he was disappointed in the lack of effort and lack of character they showed on the night.

"I've been a part of teams that get embarrassed early on then come back to have great seasons," Carmikle said. "Hopefully that will happen, and we can do some soul searching and find ourselves in the next."

Wasting no time to get in the end zone, Fountain Lake scored on the first drive of the game.

Junior quarterback Wesley Campbell commanded the Cobras' double wing offense down the field while DeArmon and fellow running back Caleb Lacy carried the load for most of the drive.

However, it was Campbell that finished the drive by scoring in unusual fashion.

From fourth and one at the 21-yard line, Campbell attempted a quarterback sneak to pick up the first down, but he found himself in acres of space, strolling into the end zone on a 21-yard run.

Shelton said the play was "absolutely not" how the Cobras drew it up, but a defensive line shift created a gap for Campbell.

"They lost him in the shuffle, he's definitely not the fastest of guys," he said. "I don't know who was more shocked, him or us, as he got into the end zone. I joked with him, I said, 'That might be more yards than you have the whole season combined.'"

Campbell missed the extra point as the Cobras took a 6-0 lead. Special teams execution would be a recurring problem for the junior throughout the night, missing two extra point attempts and a field goal attempt.

Heading into the game, Shelton was confident in Campbell's kicking ability, and he attributed the special team woes to a multitude of factors including Campbell taking his eye off the ball, a bad snap and a bad hold.

"We've got to work on our extra points and field goals," Shelton said. "In practice we've looked really well. In fact, he's kicked 50-, 52-yard field goals twice. We struggled and only made one extra point, and that's with no rush. That's something we have to address going into Hot Springs. We put a lot of emphasis on our special teams."

Magnet Cove followed Fountain Lake's drive with a march down to the 10-yard line, but Panther quarterback Evin Ashcraft threw an interception as the Cobras ran the ball back to the opposite side of the field. Fountain Lake's defense ended up accounting for three turnovers on the night.

"Defense did a great job forcing some turnovers -- still need to work on some pursuit," Shelton said. "Defensive line at times you could tell they were a little tired, gave up a little too much ground. Really have to work on some fundamental tackling but overall, you know again, the effort was there. They did swarm to the ball; we just have to execute better."

Despite the shift in momentum after Ashcraft's interception, Taten Smith fumbled the ball just four plays later to give the ball back to the visitors, but the Panthers returned the ball back to Fountain Lake after a three-and-out.

On the very first snap of the next drive, DeArmon exploded for a 40-yard touchdown run down the right side of the field. He then took a toss on the ensuing 2-point conversion to give the Cobras a 14-0 lead.

Struggling to find rhythm on offense, Magnet Cove threw another interception, this time to Juan Diggs.

"There's a lot of miscommunication," Carmikle said. "We had trouble communicating the pass protection early on, and our quarterback and our receivers are just not on the same page right now with the routes that they're running. The only way to fix that is to work and get better, and I think we will."

With Campbell under center and on a rare but effective pass play, the junior quarterback found Smith on a reverse field pass. Clearly catching the Panther defense off-guard, there was no one around Smith as he ran into the end zone.

Campbell missed his second extra point of the night as Fountain Lake jumped out to a 20-0 lead.

Senior defensive lineman Demarius Grant jumped on a Magnet Cove fumble for another turnover, but after the Cobras could not punch the ball into the end zone, Campbell missed his field goal attempt.

Into the third quarter and not slowing down, DeArmon made a cut back to the right side of the field on a run that originally went left. The cut back left the Panther defense on its heels as the senior running back scored another touchdown, but he was stopped short on the 2-point conversion.

"I think it was his last touchdown run," Shelton said. "Just really great vision. They over-pursued, and he was able to cut back where the hole was not designed, but it definitely was there. Our offensive line did a great job of washing the d-line down, and he had great vision and made that cutback and had a great run."

Smith scored the final touchdown for the Cobras as the junior punched it in from the 3-yard line. Campbell converted the PAT for a 33-0 lead.

On the last drive of the fourth quarter, Magnet Cove did manage to put points on the board. A monster pass from Ashcraft to Kizer Kidder put the Panthers at the 10-yard line.

Just a couple of plays later, Justice Traylor ran into the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown to set the final after a successful kick.

"We've been waiting on (Kidder) to make a play like that for a long time," Carmikle said. "Hopefully that's a sign of things to come."

Magnet Cove ended their 10 offensive plays in the final phase of the scrimmage on a fumbled snap and a short gain by Cade Davis.

Slotting in at quarterback for Fountain Lake's 10 offensive plays, DeArmon found Trystan Redifer for a touchdown pass to conclude the scoring on the night.

The Cobras open their season Thursday when they host Hot Springs at 7 p.m. Magnet Cove opens its season next Friday at Murfreesboro.