By Marla Jones, Sports Editor
marla@southerntorch.com

Fyffe 24-Ranburne 20

Fyffe-Nov 20, 2015- The Fyffe Red Devils hosted the Ranburne Bulldogs Friday night for the quarterfinals of the AHSAA State Championships. The teams were equally matched and it was back and forth throughout most of the game.
Ranburne (11-2) quickly started the game off with a six play, seventy yard drive to score by Theodore Smith with 9:07 left in the first. Fyffe could not make the connections to score in the first quarter. In their first possession, they had to turn the football back over to the Bulldogs on downs. Fyffe blocked a field goal attempt by Ranburne to keep the score, 7-0 going into the second quarter.
With 9:40 left in the second quarter, Fyffe had to settle for a 19-yard field goal by Andrew Dunston. Kickoff to Ranburne and Fyffe recovered. Tyler Ashley caught the 27-yard pass from Seth Benefield to score with 9:26 remaining in the second quarter. Ranburne would score on a 9-yard run to make the score 14-10 going into the half.
With 4:55 left in the third, Fyffe regained the lead with a 24-yard run by Seth Benefield. The point after attempt failed making the score 16-14.
In the fourth, Ranburne took back possession after the punt to Fyffe, when a controversial call was made that a Fyffe player touched the ball. Ranburne took the lead when they scored with 4:42 left in the game. The 2-point conversion failed, score was 20-16. With 3:53 left in the game, Ranburne seemed to have the victory in the bag when they intercepted the ball from Fyffe. Fyffe stood strong and with 1:40 left in the game, they took back possession. With 32.7 left in the game, Dilan Kilpatrick stampedes into the endzone on a 13-yard run. The Fyffe Red Devils went for two and were successful. Final Fyffe 24, Ranburne 20. Coach Benefield was very pleased with his team, “This is typical of this team. They kept fighting to the bitter end and never gave up.” When asked about this week’s game against Randolph County, Coach Benefield said, “ The games get tougher each week with only four left. This week should be a good football game. Randolph has size, speed and are well coached.” Fyffe will face Randolph County Friday in the Class 2A Semifinals at Fyffe. Kickoff at 7 pm.