Happy birthday, James Fullbright!
Midway’s junior running back rushed for 232 yards and three touchdowns, including the 51-yard game winner with 3:42 left, to push the Panthers past Cedar Park in a Week 1 classic, 35-28, at John Gupton Stadium in Cedar Park.
“It’s my birthday so I had to go off,” Fulbright, who turned 17, said. “We just had a great week of practice and that really helped us during this game.”
Fullbright and senior quarterback Tanner Mordecai gave Cedar Park’s vaunted ‘Black Rain’ defense all sorts of problems. Fulbright averaged a shade below 10 yards per carry on 24 attempts and added scoring jaunts of 25 and 47 yards.
Mordecai racked up 234 total yards – 199 passing and 35 rushing – with scoring tosses of 27 and 44 yards to go with a seven-yard keeper on 4th & 1 from his own 42-yard line to ice the game.
“Both those guys were out last year (against Cedar Park),” said Midway head coach Jeff Hulme. “Fulbright is a bowling ball of a running back. After a while, you get tired of tackling that guy, and Tanner is such a competitor. Not having him last year really hurt us, so it’s great for our kids right now.”
It looked like it might turn into a repeat of last year’s 43-13 Cedar Park stompfest after Mordecai fumbled a shotgun snap on the second play of the game and Timberwolves junior Logan Mayou scooped and scored from 29 yards out.
But that assumption proved to be a foolish one. Midway took a 7-6 lead with six minutes left in the first period when Mordecai threw a 4th down dart to Sophomore Will Nixon for a 37-yard touchdown to cap a nine-play, 91-yard drive.
“I think we showed a lot of character tonight,” Hulme said. “30 seconds into the game we gave up a defensive touchdown, I got a flag, and our sideline didn’t panic. We hung tough.”
Midway took a 14-12 lead into a halftime and quickly grabbed control of the game after the break. The Panthers recovered a short pooch, pseudo-onside kick to open the second half and Mordecai immediately hit a streaking Cobe Burch down the right sideline of a 44-yard score. The defense got a three-and-out and then Fulbright went up the middle for 47 yards to make it 28-12 less than four minutes into the half.
It looked like momentum was all on Midway’s side after the defense got two more stops but the game turned when senior linebacker Keegan Nichols picked off a Mordecai pass at midfield late in the third quarter. Eight plays later, senior running back Ibri Leal punched it in from two yards out and senior quarterback Mak Sexton hit Sammir Alzer for the two-point conversion to make it a one-score game.
The Timberwolves got a three-and-out and then went on a tough, hard-nosed 15-play, 85-yard road trip. Cedar Park converted a 4th & two, 3rd & three, and 3rd & one before Sexton scored with a 13-yard 4th down scramble. Sexton tied the game with another two-point conversion – a beautifully called and executed throwback pass to Brandon Breed to knot it up with 5:54 left.
“That’s who we are, that’s who (our players) are. They’re not going to quit playing” said Cedar Park head coach Carl Abseck. “We’re going to go to work tomorrow, watch the film, and fix what we need to fix and we’ll be ready to go next week.”
If Midway’s players felt any nerves about blowing a 16-point 4th quarter lead, they didn’t show it. The Panthers ripped off two easy first downs and then Fullbright broke loose from midfield and went untouched for the game-winner.
The defense needed one more stop and got it by stuffing a 4th & one run at its own 33-yard line. Moments later, Mordecai converted the aforementioned 4th down to seal the deal.
“We got a big stop right there, obviously, to get our offense the ball back and our big hogs up front cleared the way for Tanner, just the way you draw it up,” Hulme said.
Senior C.J. Williams was Midway’s leading receiver with four catches for 63 yards. Cedar Park’s Sexton finished 18-of-33 for 101 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Junior Will Lipscomb led the Timberwolves in rushing with 103 yards on 18 carries. Midway racked up 466 total yards on 66 plays (7.1 yards per play) while Cedar Park had 329 on 72 (4.6).
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