West Bladen falls to Fairmont 12-7

BLADENBORO – It was a defensive struggle from start to finish Friday night at the Castle.

Unfortunately, for West Bladen, it was the Fairmont defense that made the key play in spoiling the Knights’ homecoming high school football game and snapping its 17-game losing streak..

Tariq Leggett’s interception midway through the fourth quarter set up Jamarion Brown’s 20-yard touchdown run with 2:54 remaining that gave Fairmont a 12-7 victory in the Southeastern Conference game.

After Brown’s go-ahead touchdown, West Bladen (2-5, 0-2 Southeastern) converted a fourth down play when quarterback Devan Stanley passed to Sincere McKinley that gave the Knights possession at the 45. However, three incomplete passes by West Bladen and a completion for no gain sealed the win for Fairmont and sent the Golden Tornadoes sideline into a frenzy.

“There were a lot of momentum swings and they got a lot of momentum with that interception,” West Bladen coach Preston Worley said. “We really struggled to get back our traction.

“We made our fair share of mistakes, so we’ve got to clean it up. I thought we fought well. I thought the defense played a heck of a ball game. We’ll look at the film and see where we can get better.”

The West Bladen defense held Fairmont (1-6, 1-1 Southeastern) scoreless in the first half and limited the Golden Tornadoes to 255 total yards. Justin Spaulding and Isaiah Robinson led the way with 10 tackles each. Sincere McKinley had seven tackles and a pass interception in the end zone on the final play of the first half. Demarie Gayle was in on eight tackles and recovered a fumble. Keon Whittington had an interception and five tackles.

However, the West Bladen offense could manage only 192 total yards and never snapped the ball inside the Fairmont 20.

The Knights’ lone score came on the first drive of the second half following the kickoff. Ahmarie White capped the 62-yard, five-play drive by bolting up the middle 26 yards for the score with 9:37 remaining in the third quarter. Jonah Bryan kicked the conversion for a 7-0 West Bladen lead.

Fairmont countered with a 62 yard drive of its own to pull within one. Jeremiah Morris capped the nine play drive with a 19-yard scamper up the middle with 6:20 left in the third quarter. The conversion run failed.

Neither team threatened until Leggett’s interception gave Fairmont possession at the 39. Morris began the game-winning drive with a 20 yard run and the Golden Tornadoes overcame a holding penalty before Brown’s touchdown run.

West Bladen is scheduled to play at Red Springs (2-5, 0-2 Southeastern) next Friday.

Fairmont’s victory snapped its nearly two-season losing streak that began after defeating West Bladen 26-14 on Oct. 19, 2023.

“I’m just thrilled for these guys,” said Fairmont coach Scott Loosemore, who was showered from what remained in a water cooler after the game. “It’s been such a long time since these guys have won a game.

“There were several times tonight that they could have said ‘here we go again’ and hung their heads and quit, but they didn’t. They kept fighting and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”