Fayetteville’s surge stopped short late

Fayetteville dug itself a big first-half hole and almost climbed out of it in the second half before falling 48-42 to Owasso, Okla., on Friday in nonconference action.

The Bulldogs (1-1) fell behind 14-0 early and trailed 28-9 at halftime against the powerhouse Rams, coached by former Fayetteville coach Bill Blankenship. Owasso (20) used big plays at the start and end of the second quarter to take control early, but Fayetteville did not go away.

The Bulldogs had all the momentum in the fourth quarter and had just forced the Class 6AI No. 2 Rams to punt up 48-42 with 3:13 remaining, but Fayetteville muffed the punt and Owasso recovered then ran out the clock.

“If we have better composure in the first half, I think it would be a lot different game,” Fayetteville Coach Casey Dick said after the game. “There were a couple of plays here and there that obviously we felt like we should have taken advantage of and it would have been a different game. Plays that we made all week, plays that we made last week.”

Fayetteville used a strong passing attack as the Bulldogs’ Bladen Fike completed 21 of 40 passes for 417 yards. His 65-yard touchdown throw to Isaiah Sategna cut the deficit to 48-42.

A 99-yard drive just before half seemed to give the Rams control.

Ronnie Thomas hauled in a 50-yard pass on the first play of the second quarter and Cole Adams scored on a 34-yard strike with 41 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Rams a 28-9 halftime lead.

Both scoring passes came from Austin Havens, who completed his first eight passes en route to a 357-yard performance.

Owasso marched 48 yards on its opening possession, taking a 7-0 lead on Emery Neeley’s 4-yard run. Neely added a 2-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Rams a 48-29 lead.

Fayetteville had several opportunities to cut into the deficit in the first and second halves, but dropped passes and penalties doomed the Bulldogs.

“It’s tough because we wanted to come in here and play the way we are capable of and we did in the second half,” Dick said. “We came back from 20 points or 19 or whatever it was and we executed really well.”

Sategna, an Oregon commit, had another huge night for the Bulldogs with 9 catches for 233 yards and 1 touchdown, his second straight game of more than 200 receiving yards.

“That’s just him. He’s a competitor,” Dick said.

“He wants the ball and he wants to do whatever he needs to do to help his team win. He’s a big-time football player and he’s making bigtime plays.”

Dick said the Bulldogs, who will host North Little Rock next week, would learn from the loss against a solid team that is expected to challenge for a state title in Oklahoma.

“This was a great game in a great environment,” he said. “I think this game helps us. We wanted to come over here and make a good showing.”

Fayetteville outgained Owasso 509-433.

The Rams had three receivers finish with more than 90 yards receiving. Thomas had 5 catches for 160 yards; Adams had 6 catches for 98 yards; and Hakelan Carney had 7 receptions for 117 yards.