FOOTBALL: Dublin falls to Fitzgerald in physical second-round confrontation

A Dublin team that typically dominates the line of scrimmage met more than its match up front as Fitzgerald plowed into the Shamrock Bowl for Friday’s second round of the state playoffs. 

The Purple Hurricane wore down the Irish on both sides of the ball as it secured a seventh-consecutive win, and sixth-straight quarterfinal appearance, in a 28-7 victory. 

The battle was mostly uphill for the Green and Gold, which was able to pound out some progress on a majority of drives, but failed to sustain any of them until breaking through for a lone touchdown after the game had been decided late in the fourth quarter. 

Fitzgerald mixed things up offensively, but stayed true to a constant theme of hard-nosed runs behind its massive front line and key plays by Victor Copeland, who accumulated 157 total yards, and accounted for touchdowns three different ways, to key a couple of difference-making surges midway through each half. 

The Irish, after holding their own defensively in the early portion of the struggle, had some mistakes and inopportune turnovers pile up as the visitors took control in a pivotal second quarter.

Despite out-gaining the Hurricane in rushing yardage, Dublin – led by Dontavious Cannon’s 12 carries for 102 yards and its only touchdown – had most of its drives stall shy of a much-needed breakthrough in plus territory. 

Copeland, who threw for and caught a touchdown in addition to rushing for his third on 88 of the team’s 168 yards, was involved in each of the Hurricane’s touchdowns except one by its defense. 

To start the game, both teams exchanged two drives apiece. One of each reached opposing territory, but neither crossed the goal line as the first quarter ended with no score. 

Dublin ran nine plays on the first possession, but punted once the drive stalled near midfield after an illegal motion penalty. A 30-plus-yard run by Jamarcus Knight opened the second one, but a bust on a subsequent play, then a sack by Fitzgerald’s unblocked Eduan Carter, forced another kick that Ryland Yates rolled all the way to the Hurricane 7. 

Fitzgerald, despite being pinned in its worst field position so far to start a third possession, went the distance for the first score of the night as it drove a few plays out to the 30, then went to the house. 

The block of K.J. Richardson sprung Copeland around left end after a fake handoff for the 70-yard touchdown. 

A few plays into the ensuing series came a disastrous first turnover for the Irish, as a defender ripped through the line and wrapped up quarterback Jeff Davis, while clawing the ball loose in the process. Kingston Smith came out of the pile with the football, and ran about 28 yards with it back to the end zone to double the Fitzgerald lead. 

Dublin, in response, got another good drive going and poked the ball past midfield, but then took a sack from Bryce Smith that forced another fumble, and a Fitzgerald recovery ended any chance of altering the spread. 

The Hurricane was prevented from adding onto its number as Jalen Dardy came up with a fourth down sack to send things to the half with Fitzgerald ahead 14-0. 

Despite a long, winding kickoff return by Fitzgerald’s Latavius Devine to start the second half on a plus field, the Irish defense stood tall to force a punt and get the football back with a chance of getting right back in it. 

Their drive, with back-to-back good runs by Knight, turned into the deepest foray yet into Hurricane territory. But the Fitzgerald defense once again stiffened on a fourth down, and Will Wallace was forced out of bounds by Jeffery Hicks a yard or two shy of the first-down stick for a turnover on downs. 

The Hurricane busted the game open on an ensuing third and long, going with some quick play action for a toss by QB Matthew Cowan over the seam to a wide-open Copeland for a 48-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 21-0. 

Dublin moved backwards on the next possession, and punted the ball away from deep in its own territory, early in the fourth quarter, to give Fitzgerald the ball near midfield. 

And the Hurricane drove 56 yards for the score, with more misdirection on a 22-yard Copeland touchdown pass to Jalin Jackson, to put the game away. 

Sophomore Ryland Yates, Dublin’s heir apparent at quarterback, entered the game to lead a final drive of 82 yards to put some late points on the board. Four first downs led to a 40-yard dive by Cannon for the only Irish touchdown with a little over four minutes left in the game. 

Ninth seeded Fitzgerald (9-3, 5-1 region 1-High A) advances to battle top seed Heard County this Friday in Franklin. Dublin wraps up its campaign with a record of 9-3 (8-1 region 2-High A). 

Sports correspondent J. Roy Rowland IV contributed to this report.