JACKSBORO — After losing star wide receiver Davis Simmons to an injury against Bearden, the Farragut High School football team needed a playmaker to emerge.
Enter Braden Collins.
Collins caught three first half touchdown passes and Cooper Hardin ran for two second half scores as the visiting Admirals (5-1, 2-1 in Region 3-5A) knocked off Campbell County 38-28 in a pivotal Region 3-5A contest.
“Our coaches talked about it since he got hurt,” said Collins. “We had to step up and make bigger plays for our team.”
Collins’ touchdowns covered 6, 28, and 42 yards. Farragut quarterback Adam Fulton completed 11 of 26 passes for 209 yards, with 119 going to Collins.
Hardin rushed for 112 of his 113 yards after the intermission.
His two 7-yard touchdown runs turned a tie game at halftime into a 35-28 Farragut lead.
“I told them at halftime ‘You’ve got to be physical’,” said Farragut coach Eddie Courtney. “We’ve got to run the football to win games like this. That’s what we did.”
Joe Doyle’s 47-yard field goal with 9 minutes, 1 second left stretched the lead to 38-28.
“Our kicking coach Gerald Robinson gave me the yes that he could hit that one,” said Courtney.
“We just had confidence that he would.”
Quarterback Zach Rutherford, who was 27 of 41 for 382 yards, threw two touchdown passes for Campbell County (6-1, 2-1) and Elijah Phillips ran for two more. Max Farris hauled in 11 passes for 221 yards.
However, five turnovers, including two interceptions in the final 4:51, doomed the Cougars.
“It came down to about 3-5 plays,” said Campbell County coach Justin Price.
“We turned the ball over a couple times, and they didn’t. That’s usually the difference in the game when you’ve got two really good teams going at it.”
The win was Farragut’s 15th in as many tries against Campbell County and keeps the Admirals’ hopes for a region championship alive.
“We have to do each week like we did tonight,” said Courtney. “In week 11, we’ll see where we’re at.”
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Be sure to checkout CRFOTO.com every week for a full photo gallery from Friday’s game. See a photo you like? They are also available for purchase directly from his website. Click here for this week’s photos.
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