Story By Heath Hambrick

Going into Friday night's match-up between the Fyffe Red Devils and the Class-2A No.1 Pisgah Eagles, you could have only hoped for another classic game like the one from 2024. Well, it was a classic, alright. It was classic Fyffe. 

The Red Devils took a 60-28 victory in the showdown between the two Sand Mountain schools. The game was a tale of two halves. The first half featured a back-and-forth battle as each team traded scores, ending with the Red Devils leading 29-28.

However, the second half was completely dominated by Fyffe.The Fyffe offense took over with the runner of Ryder Gipson, and the defense smothered the Eagles' offense, not allowing another point in the second half. 

“Our defense made plays by forcing turnovers, and the offense turned those into points,” said Fyffe Head Coach Paul Benefield. 

The game started with Pisgah having the ball first and going 12 plays in under six minutes to score first after converting a fourth and ten. 

With 6:14 left in the first quarter, the Red Devils began their first drive at their own 32, and with a heavy dose of Gipson, Fyffe went 10 plays that led to a Gipson touchdown from 1 yard out with 46 seconds to go in the first. Fyffe converted the 2-point play to take an 8-6 lead. 

After forcing a three-and-out, Fyffe’s offense only took three plays to allow Gipson to score again, this time from one yard out. With 10:10 to go in the first half, Fyffe took a 14-6 lead. 

Pisgah answered on its next drive to tie the game at 14. Fyffe fumbled on its next drive, and the Eagles recovered. Pisgah took just two plays to regain the lead, 20-14. 

With 2:34 to go in the half, Gipson found the end zone for the third to give Fyffe a 21-20 lead, but then Pisgah fumbled the ensuing kickoff, setting up Fyffe for another score. 

Gipson scored his four touchdowns of the first half from four yards out and made the 2-point conversion, giving Fyffe a 29-20 lead. 

Pisgah cut the lead to 29-28 right before half with a touchdown pass from 11 yards out. 

Fyffe began the second half with the ball, and it didn’t take long for Fyffe to put more points on the board. 

On the first play of the third quarter, Gipson went 60 yards on the first play of the half to give the Red Devis a 37-28 lead. 

Pisgah went three and out on its drive. On the first play of the next Fyffe drive, Gipson went 87 yards for the score, Gipson's sixth touchdown of the night. 

Gipson scored one more time from 52 yards out in the third quarter. Gipson finished the third quarter with over 200 yards and 3-TDs in the third quarter alone.

Maddox Doss scored late in the fourth quarter after a Pisgah turnover.

Gipson finished the game with 19 carries, 368  yards, and 7-touchowns.

The game was classic Fyffe. Run the ball and wear down the opposing team. 

“It's good to get a win, we have a big region game here next week. The kids improved from last week, but we still have things that we must correct,” said Benefield. 

Fyffe (1-1) will host Collinsville on September 5th.