Millbrook football
Bengals clobber 'Cats 27-13
You might say the Millbrook football team was beaten at its own game Friday night.
You could also argue the Wildcats never got to play their own game either.
Fuquay-Varina jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, rushed for 381 yards and took the ball out of the hands of Keith Marshall and the Wildcat running game in a 27-13 first-round playoff win.
With the defeat, Millbrook’s season comes to a close at 6-6.
The Wildcats fell behind by two touchdowns less than nine minutes into the contest and trailed 21-0 midway through the third quarter. The deficit forced Millbrook, which averages 165 rushing yards per game, to revert to an aerial attack that never materialized.
“If you’re going to beat a good team you’ve got to run the ball,” said Millbrook coach Clarence Inscore. “We didn’t do that. You can’t be one-dimensional.”
The Bengals (10-2) scored on each of their first two possessions — runs of 25 and 29 yards by running back Eric Powell and quarterback Nate Budde, respectively — before the
Wildcat defense finally found its composure.
But playing from behind, Millbrook was forced out of its comfort zone and passed 47 times in 65 plays from scrimmage. That's unfamiliar territory for a team which averaged just 16 passes per game entering Friday. The Wildcats went to the air on each of their last 21 plays of the game.
“We had a tough time stopping them early on. Once we were down 21-0 we had to start passing,” Inscore said.
Marshall, who has rushed for more than 1,100 yards this season, carried just seven times and finished with negative yardage.
Meanwhile, Powell (95 yards), Budde (92) and Cory Hunter (146) chewed up ground and, more importantly, the clock. The Wildcats possessed the ball for just over eight minutes in the second half.
“They controlled the line of scrimmage,” Inscore said. “We just got blown off the ball up front.”
Millbrook finished with only 40 yards on the ground and had seven running plays go for negative yardage. Quarterback Trey McFarland had a busy night, completing 17 passes for 241 yards and two. Scott Gray hauled in a six-yard TD pass and Dontre Price reeled in a 11-yard TD reception.
Gray’s touchdown made it 21-6 near the end of the third quarter but the Bengals answered right back with a 14-yard touchdown run by Hunter on a drive that took just five plays.
Price found the end zone for the Wildcats with 6:21 remaining, but Millbrook only got the ball back once more and turned it over on downs.
The Wildcats turned the ball over on downs three times inside the Bengals’ 36-yard line, including twice on their first four possessions of the game. Millbrook was just 2 for 7 on fourth-down conversions.
“We had our chances and we didn’t take advantage of them,” Inscore said. “They’re a great football team. We knew that coming in.”
“It’s tough to look forward to next year right now,” Inscore said. “But you never know what next year holds.”
The Bengals advance to face Pinecrest, which defeated Durham Jordan 28-0 Friday.
