A small, short-handed, but veteran Harrisburg Bulldogs team got the better of nearby rival Fayette in the final Lewis & Clark Conference matchup between the two teams on Friday, 50-8, in Harrisburg.

Both teams are now 2-6 overall, have first-year head coaches, and have struggled this year for opposite reasons. For Harrisburg, the win broke a long streak of moral victories, including a 41-36 decision at No. 5 ranked Westran the week prior. For Fayette, Friday’s game was the fifth straight loss for a young team trying to learn the game while playing a season.

“It’s going to be hard to be successful against the team that’s bigger, better, stronger. It’s the theme of the season,” said Fayette coach Kole Hinton. “What I was really disappointed with and what really killed us tonight was the amount of mental errors that we had, particularly offensively, but defensively as well. We made a lot of mental mistakes, and it wasn’t good.”

Fayette’s inexperience has fought to make the team competitive this season, with freshman and sophomores starting alongside a few upperclassmen.

Harrisburg has a group of veteran starters but has dressed just 17 or fewer players in the last three games. And the Bulldogs were without a key player on Friday. Top receiver Hunter Cole, a senior, tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) the previous week against Westran. An MRI confirmed the tear on Tuesday.

“He’s been handling it well,” said Harrisburg coach Brennen Claas. “I hate it for him. I hate to see a senior do that and lose basketball and a big chunk of track. He’s a great track athlete as well as a basketball player.

“As much as you hate it, it’s great to see other kids step up and fill that role. Rylee Robinson and Bryce Ott did that tonight.”

Cole has been the chief target of junior quarterback Trace Combs, who had thrown 14 touchdowns in the previous four games, including five against Westran.

“I thought he did a great job of taking what they gave us,” Claas said about his quarterback. “I still want to see him run the ball a little bit more. He was really good. Sometimes, in that situation, it’s easy to panic and not know what to do. He trusted his guys out there and put the ball in the right spots for them to make plays, and they did it.”

Combs finished six for eight for 149 yards and two touchdowns against Fayette. Robinson was his top target on the night. The sophomore made three receptions for 77 yards and one touchdown. Ott made one grab, a 54-yarder for the Bulldogs’ first touchdown on their opening drive. He also ended Fayette’s first drive with an interception in the end zone.

The bulk of Harrisburg’s offensive production came on the ground from the increasingly reliable running back Caleb Sager. The sophomore picked up 231 yards on 22 carries with three touchdowns and a two-point conversion. He also made one 13-yard pass reception. 

Senior Hayven Samuels scored one touchdown with eight rushing attempts for 64 yards and two fumbles.

“There were some alignment things we were able to take advantage of, and the guys upfront executed well,” Claas said about a Harrisburg rushing game that netted 314 yards. “Sager and Hayven both ran the ball really well. They were patient, trusted their blocks, and hung onto the ball.”

Harrisburg scored consistently throughout the first half to take a 20-0 lead into the break. Ott capped off the Bulldogs’ opening drive with a 54-yard scoring reception. Midway through the second quarter, Combs struck again, this time with a 12-yard pass to Robinson. Combs then found Ott in the left corner of the end zone for a two-point conversion.

The Bulldogs’ running game stole the show on their final drive of the first half. Backed up on third-and-20 in their own territory, Sager broke lose for 52 yards to set up a late touchdown. Sager then punched the ball across with 39.8 seconds left to give Harrisburg a three-touchdown lead at the break.

The third quarter was much of the same. Harrisburg scored on its opening possession of the second half, set up by a long 55-yard pass to the Fayette 21-yard line. A few minutes later, Sager scored from four yards out to make the score 26-0.

A blocked punt at the end of Fayette’s next drive gave the Bulldogs excellent field position at the Falcons’ 39-yard line. Sager once again found pay dirt on a short run for Harrisburg’s second touchdown of the third quarter. He then dove over the Falcon defender for the two-point conversion, giving his team a 34-point lead midway through the third quarter.

The Bulldogs scored twice more in the fourth quarter. Samuels scored a rushing touchdown and a two-point conversion in the opening minute. Moments later, Robinson scored on a pick-six, returning the ball 58 yards for the touchdown.

Fayette, however, was hardly able to move the ball against a big Harrisburg defensive line, despite opening the game with a strong drive. After starting on their own 37-yard line, the Falcons pushed the ball down the field, but an interception in the end zone by Harrisburg junior Bryce Ott ended Fayette’s first scoring chance.

The result of the drive was what Coach Hinton described as mental errors that plagued the Falcons all night. “We had a play call, but we were supposed to read the front side safety. We read the backside safety instead. Not only did we read the wrong guy, but we read it incorrectly. He was following our corner the entire way, and we just threw it anyway.”

The interception was the first of two for Fayette quarterback Ledgyr Conrow. The freshman assumed the starting role three weeks prior on September 29.

“That’s the Ledgyr we know from the summer, not the Ledgyr we’ve come to know now,” Hinton said. “He has to work through those things. We trust him to keep working through those deals. We move the ball well when we do the right things.”

Conrow completed eight of 17 passing attempts for 81 yards with two interceptions.

Few things went right for the Fayette offense on Friday. The night culminated with injuries to three key players. Leading rusher Carter Vroman was somewhat hobbled coming into the game with a sore ankle from the week before. He left the game after it was twisted further in the second quarter. Junior offensive and defensive lineman Jacob Wood also left the game in the second quarter with an injured knee and foot. Later in the second half, sophomore full back and linebacker Jaron Cross was sidelined with a lower leg injury.

“We knew Carter was kind of iffy,” Hinton explained. “He got hurt, and then Jacob Wood got dumped on the wrong leg. And Jaron, same thing. They’re big boys falling on you.”

All three of those players were off the field when Fayette finally found a way to score late in the third quarter. Junior Micah Estes is half of Fayette’s two-pronged running attack. While Vroman is big and powerful, Estes is fast and nimble. He was able to finally break the plane on a short run to put the Falcons on the board with 1:54 left in the third quarter. 

The score was set up by a 39-yard catch and run by junior Kaleb Friebe to bring the Falcons within striking distance. 

Estes then punched the ball into the end zone for the two-point conversion.

But eight points would be all Fayette could muster.

“It’s frustrating because we’re so close to being a good ball club. And the 50-8 doesn’t look like it at all,” Hinton said. “I want them to have success. I want them to feel what it looks like to put four quarters together.”

Fayette’s rushing game picked up just 27 positive yards on Friday. Estes led the way with 33 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown. Vroman made just four rushes for eight yards before being sidelined. Vroman also made two pass receptions for seven yards. Estes made one six-yard grab.

Friebe made one reception, the 39-yarder, to set up the Fayette touchdown in the third quarter. Sophomore Payton Oeth made two grabs for 18 yards. Sophomore Deandre Kioh had two catches for 11 yards.

Fayette faces a talented Father Tolton Regional Catholic team for the final game of the regular season on Friday. The 8-0 Trailblazers have won most of their games by large margins, four of which by way of shutout. They average 44.3 points per game while allowing just 7.9 so far this season. The closest score came against Quincy Notre Dame, 35-28, on September 29. 

“We know it’s a tall order, but what we care about is getting better and fighting,” Hinton said about his senior-night matchup. 

Harrisburg plays its final regular-season game at home against 2-6 Scotland County. It will mark the final Lewis & Clark Conference game for Harrisburg, which will leave the conference with Fayette after this season to form the Central State 8 with six other teams, including district foe Russellville.

SC fell to South Harrison 38-6 Friday for the Tigers’ third straight loss. They fell to Fayette 36-35 on September 8.

“We’ll have to bring our A game,” Claas said about facing Scotland County. “They’ve got a couple of defensive linemen who get off the ball really well. They’ll be tough.”

While the regular season has been a struggle, once districts begin all teams are essentially 0-0. Depending on how things wrap up Friday, Fayette could make the trip to Harrisburg for a district play-in between the No. 8 and No. 9 teams on October 27. Fayette, Harrisburg, and Russellville all sit at the bottom of the district, each at 2-6 overall and within seven points of one another. And because Harrisburg won Friday’s head-to-head matchup against Fayette, the Bulldogs would maintain home-field advantage should the two meet again.

But with one more regular-season game left to play, anything could happen. Harrisburg has moved ahead of Russellville, with fewer than three points separating the two teams. Fayette remains ninth with 19.51 points. All three hold 2-6 records. 

Friday’s games kick off at 7 p.m. Class 1 District 2 action opens on Friday, October 27.