RWA’s Nic Stillwell (17) and Mitchell Gibbons (7) smother the Falcons’ running game. (Photo/Martha Ladd)
WINNSBORO – Richard Winn Academy began its season with a dominating 64-0 victory over Fountain Inn Christian, led by senior quarterback Matt Taylor. Taylor accounted for four rushing touchdowns as Richard Winn dominated the game on the ground.
The Eagles began their dominating performance with a 48-yard rushing touchdown by Taylor on the game’s opening drive. From that point on the Eagles of Richard Winn would continue to record rushing touchdowns on their next five possessions as Fountain Inn never got a chance to make any offensive production.
Assisting Taylor with offensive touchdowns for the Eagles were freshman Peyton Gilbert who recorded two touchdowns on the evening with junior Webb Youngue and sophomore Mitchell Gibbons recording rushing touchdowns as well. The Eagles would rack up more than 200 yards on the ground as the Falcons of Fountain Inn could never adapt to fast tempo offense of Richard Winn.
Fountain Inn only reached into Richard Winn territory one time the entire evening with the drive stalling after a failed fourth-down conversion attempt in the second half. Richard Winn was led on defense by junior Coker Gilbert who recorded seven tackles on the night. Senior Conrad Sharpe also assisted Gilbert with six tackles and junior Nic Stillwell recorded four tackles including two tackles for losses and also scoring a defensive touchdown on a fumble recovery.
“In 8-man football it is rare you see a shutout in a game due to the fact there are only eight men on the field,” RWA head coach Dan Dickerson said. “So to see our defense pitch a shutout in the first game will help continue to build confidence to make sure we are playing into late November.”
Dickerson was also proud of the offensive production his team produced and is very excited for the potential he saw in his offense Friday night.
“We run a fast paced offense and want to wear down our opponent’s defense throughout four quarters,” Dickerson said. “We train our team to be in better shape than our opponent, so we run a lot during our practice so both sides of the ball can be prepared to wear down the other team.”
After such a dominating win Dickerson plans on getting his team back to the basic so there will be no compliancy against their next opponent, Cathedral Academy.
“We are getting ready for our longest road trip this season, so at practice Monday I want to make sure my guys are taking it one game at a time,” Dickerson said, “because the goal of all teams in the state is to make sure they raise the State Championship trophy at the end of November.”
RWA: 14-22-13-15 – 64
FIC: 0-0-0-0 – 0
Scoring
First Quarter
RWA – Matt Taylor 48 run. Mitchell Gibbon kick. (11:14)
RWA – John Coleman 19 run. M. Gibbons kick. (2:10)
Second Quarter
RWA – M. Taylor 5 run. M. Gibbons kick. (11:00)
RWA – M. Taylor 21 run. M. Taylor 3 pass from M. Gibbons. (8:00)
RWA – Coker Gilbert 2 run. M. Gibbons kick. (1:24)
Third Quarter
RWA – Webb Yongue 65 run. Kick failed. (7:37)
RWA – Nic Stillwell 35 fumble return. M. Gibbons kick. (2:55)
Fourth Quarter
RWA – M. Gibbons 18 run. M. Gibbons kick. (8:45)
RWA – C. Gilbert 12 run. M. Gibbons 3 run. (2:45)
Team Stats
FIC RWA
First Downs 6 12
Rushes/Yards 36-81 16-235
Passing Yards 16 51
C-A-I-TD 1-6-1-0 5-6-0-0
Fumbles/Lost 5-1 1-0
Individual Stats
RUSHING: RWA – John Coleman 2-23, Matt Taylor 7-80, Mitchell Gibbons 1-18, Webb Yongue 2-80, Peyton Gilbert 3-27, Bryant Carvalho 1-7.
RECEIVING: RWA – Blake Pauley 2-16, M. Gibbons 1-16, J. Coleman 1-11, P. Gilbert 1-8.
PASSING: RWA – M. Taylor 5-6, 51 yards.