By Shannon Fagan, WEIS Sports Director

SAND ROCK – Top-ranked Fyffe scored on five first-half possessions and the Red Devil defense posted its fifth shutout of the season in a 54-0 football victory at Sand Rock on Thursday.

Ryder Gipson led the Red Devils (7-0, 5-0 Class 2A, Region 8) with 129 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown. Hayden Parker posted 85 yards on six totes with two scores.

The win was Fyffe coach Paul Benefield’s 375th of his career, trailing only Central of Clay County’s Danny Horn with 377 victories.

“He’s one of the best coaches ever,” Sand Rock coach Tanner Nelson said of Benefield. “You just tip your hat to them. We knew it was going to be a hard game. They’re physical and do things the right way. We had a couple of chances early. We just didn’t execute, but I’m proud of our guys. We fought all the way to the end. We never quit.”

Sand Rock (3-4, 2-3) had the ball first to open the game, but quarterback Alec Ashley was picked off by Maddox Doss. Gipson scored on a 2-yard run to put the Red Devils up 7-0 early.

The Wildcats moved the ball deep inside Fyffe territory on its next possession, but the drive stalled on fourth down when Ashley was sacked for a nine-yard loss.

Fyffe capitalized on the turnover on downs by marching 75 yards in 13 plays, capped off by Ian Patterson’s 6-yard touchdown run, giving the Red Devils a 13-0 advantage after a quarter.

Following a Sand Rock punt, Fyffe scored again on Parker’s 44-yard touchdown run. Doss ran in for the 2-point conversion, extending the Red Devil lead to 21-0.

Sand Rock was forced to punt again on its next possession, but a high snap resulted in an 8-yard loss back to the Wildcat 29-yard line. One play later, Doss connected with Hunter Lathum for the touchdown. The extra point provided Fyffe a 28-0 advantage with 7:46 remaining in the first half.

Lathum intercepted Ashley two plays following his touchdown catch and returned it 42 yards for another Fyffe score, making it a 35-0 game.

Following another Sand Rock punt, Brody Freeman scored on a 7-yard run to put Fyffe up 42-0 at halftime.

Doss added a 13-yard score and Parker a 12-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for the final.

Ashley led Sand Rock by completing 5-of-13 pass attempts for 56 yards. His top receiver was Lathan Amos, who had four catches for 50 yards. Lucas Brown led the Wildcat ground game with 21 yards on six carries – all in the second half.

Despite the loss, Sand Rock still holds its playoff destiny in its hands. The Wildcats play at Pisgah in a pivotal region game next Friday.

“We’ve got a chance to get in the playoffs, but we’ve got to win out,” Nelson said. “I think we can if we execute and do our jobs. We’ve got a couple of injuries we’ve got to get healed up over the weekend and be ready to go. We’ve played those guys for several years and we know what they’re good at. We’ve just got to have a good week (at practice).”