By Cade Cromer

Cordele Dispatch contributor

The Fullington Academy Trojans picked up another victory in dominating fashion on Friday night in Pinehurst.

Their opponents, the Johnson Ferry Christian Academy Saints, began the game with the ball and were quickly forced to punt after running just three plays.

Fullington began their first possession on their own 30-yard line following the defensive stop and the offense drove 70 yards on six plays to pick up the game’s first score. Lane Mitcham finished off the drive with a rushing touchdown from 18 yards out and the point after try was successful, giving the Trojans an early 7-0 lead just over four minutes into the contest.

The Trojan defense forced another punt shortly after to give their offense the ball back, but Fullington fumbled possession away and the defense recovered.

Johnson’s Ferry was set up with good field position following the Trojan fumble, but once again the Fullington defense came out on top as they forced a fourth down stop to regain possession of the ball.

After retaking control of the ball the Trojans fumbled possession away again, as the Saints recovered the loose ball a second time. But they were not able to make anything positive happen after the turnover as they once again gave the ball over on downs to the Trojans.

This time the Trojans would immediately make the defensive stop payoff with a score as quarterback Will Mashburn broke loose up the sideline for a 53-yard touchdown run. The extra point extended the Fullington lead to 14-0 just before the end of the first quarter.

The Trojan defense forced another quick stop early on in the second quarter to get the ball back, and they continued the scoring from there as Nick Arzola ran in for a touchdown from four yards out. The extra point was no good this time, but the Trojans were starting to pull away at 20-0 halfway through the second quarter.

The dominant performance by the Trojans continued shortly after as they forced another punt and the offense cashed in once more with another rushing touchdown from Mitcham. The score gave Fullington a 27-0 lead with around four minutes left to play in the first half.

The Trojans were not quite finished with their first half domination, however, as Mitcham found the endzone for his third score of the game with just one second remaining in the first half. The score sent the Trojans in at the break up 34-0.

The large lead gave Fullington the opportunity to get some backups and younger players into the game for most of the second half. The Trojans were able to add on to their lead late in the third quarter with a short touchdown pass from Mashburn to Thomas Kenton. The touchdown pass was the final score of the game and it put the Trojans up by a score of 40-0.

It was a completely dominant performance on both sides of the ball for Fullington as their defense held the Saints to negative 33 yards rushing, 65 yards passing and zero points.

The Trojan rushing attack ended the game with 331 yards on the ground led by Nick Arzola’s 108 yards on 10 rushes and Mitcham, who ran for 102 yards on 10 carries. Hunter Hughes led the defense with six tackles and two sacks.

After the game coach Hurst said, “It was a good win. We got big contributions from a lot of players tonight.”

The win put Fullington’s record at 6-2 on the season. They continue their schedule next Friday night as they host Life Christian of College Park.