Trending
BEVERLY -- Fort Frye opened the 2021 season in grand fashion Friday with a dominating 49-6 over the visiting Reigning Sports Thunder at Cadet Field.
The Fort scored 21 points in the opening quarter and 28 more in the second as they built a huge halftime lead and then played ball control in the second half under a running clock.
Senior quarterback Ian Ellis tossed three touchdown passes and ran for another while Maeson Long, Owen Brown and Collin Welsh each scored rushing touchdowns to lead the way for the Eric Huck-coached Cadets.
"I thought our guys were excited to come out and play and they came out and played hard," said Huck in his 14th season as Cadet head coach. "We played pretty well on both sides of the ball but we did find some little things that we definitely need to clean up."
The Fort scored first when Ellis connected with Long on a 27-yard touchdown with 8: 23 to play in the first quarter and after they recovered a Thunder fumble they scored a little more than a minute later when Ellis connected with Zaiden Huck on a 13-yard pitch and catch for a 14-0 lead.
Welsh's three-yard run later in the quarter gave the Cadets a 21-0 lead.
The Cadets continued to pile on in the second quarter with Ellis scoring the first of four second period touchdowns with a 2-yard plunge in the opening minute.
Brown's 43-yard touchdown scamper preceded a 20-yard scoring strike from Ellis to Braxton Brown and a 22-yard run by Long to cap the scoring.
Reigning Sports got their lone score of the game late in the second quarter when quarterback DJ Harvey connected on a 96-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Hammer.
Ellis completed 7-of-9 pass attempts for Fort Frye for 109 yards while Owen Brown led the Cadets in rushing with eight carries for 88 yards.
Long hauled in three catches for 55 yards while Braxton Brown added 41 yards on three receptions of his own.
The Cadets will next host a very tough St. Henry team next Saturday at 5 p.m.
"They are team with an outstanding history that has 57 kids on their roster and are bringing five buses full of people," said Huck. "They are going to come here ready to play and we are definitely going to be ready for them."