Karns fails to find momentum against Fulton
By Ken Leinart
It was an odd game.
At least for the Karns High School Beavers, but it was not so odd for the Fulton High School Falcons after the Broadway Bruisers came out with a 28-8 non-region road win.
Playing at Hardin Valley Academy the Beavers, the home but not home team, ran into a case of inconsistency and Falcon running back Albert Johnson.
Johnson scored in the first and fourth quarters Saturday night – the first score on a three-yard run, the fourth quarter score a 28-yard explosion – and senior Falcon quarterback Javon Moulden threw two touchdowns to take the win.
“Al is playing well right now. Al is understanding that sometimes getting vertical and getting three yards is a win,” Falcon Head Coach Justin Long said. “I’m proud of that guy. I’m proud of what he brings us … He’s been showing some leadership behind the scenes.”
Unofficially Johnson carried the ball 17 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns and the runs covered the gamut of tough carries up the middle to the break out jet streams like his fourth quarter touchdown.
Moulden’s two scoring passes came on a little slant to senior Falcon Derrick Smith, who hauled in about a five toss and turned it into a 66-yard first quarter score.
With 1:05 left in the third quarter Moulden connected with Travis Ballenger for a 23-yard score.
Sophomore kicker Emanuel Mosquera connected on all four of his extra point attempts.
“Javon (Moulden) gets better every night, better every game,” Long said. “I’m proud of how he’s managing the game.”
Defensively the Falcons just played basic, hard-nose football. “We talked about doing the basics … Just play the game the way you’ve been coached and leave it at that.”
For the Beavers, there were flashes of brilliance. A three-play scoring dive in the second quarter to cut the score to 14-6 showed some of that. Senior Avery Westfield carried three times and each run was better than the previous as he hit nine yards, then 24, then 37 yards for a second quarter score.
“Running back is a new position for him (Westfield). He was our slot back, then when we lost Doug (Turner), we put him back there,” Karns Head Coach Brad Taylor said. “He’s still learning a lot, but he showed flashes tonight.
The two point conversion failed.
“Consistency,” Taylor said of what was missing from the Karns’ attack Saturday night.
“We’d make a big play and then we’d end up behind the sticks. We’d make a big play on defense and then they’d bust one. We just couldn’t get the momentum going in our favor tonight and couldn’t make a big play when we needed one.”
The Beavers went aggressive on special teams, attempting a fake punt and an onside kick. They didn’t work.
“We tried to be aggressive on special teams,” Taylor said. “When one phase of the game was lacking, we couldn’t make it go in another phase. We just just never got any momentum.”
Karns tallied the final points of the night off an errant Falcon snap on a punt attempt late in the fourth quarter, recording a safety.
“It was weird,” he said. “The whole night. There weren’t a lot of fans here. Playing on a Saturday was different, playing at a neutral site was different. You never know how your kids are going to respond.
“I thought it’d be a fun, cool atmosphere … But it was just weird.”
