Fayetteville rolls past Raiders, 33-7
9:32 p.m. Oct. 17, 2025 • Updated 5:09 p.m. Oct. 19
DUANE CROSS
MCO Publisher•Editor
It was not the Homecoming the home crowd envisioned. However, Raider Nation avoided going home empty-handed. A bobbled snap on a punt led to a 64-yard sprint to the end zone by Cole Taylor, giving them something to cheer about.
But by then, the damage had long been done. Fayetteville had already built a commanding lead, cruising to a 33-7 win Friday, Oct. 17, and handing Moore County its seventh consecutive loss.
Reflecting on the streak, head coach Kris White said, “What we’ve done is just try to push through it and just continue to get better. I thought last week was our best week of practice – on both sides of the ball. Then again, it comes down on Friday to execution. You’ve got to be able to block and tackle and make plays when you have chances, make plays, and we just didn’t do that”.
The Tigers (3-4 overall, 3-0 in Region 5A) controlled the game from the opening possession, leaning heavily on running back Zyon Akeem Nnaji, who rumbled for two touchdowns and more than 100 yards on the night.
Fayetteville wasted no time asserting itself. After forcing an early punt, Nnaji and Fernando Leslie carried the Tigers downfield on their second drive, capped by Leslie’s 16-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. Anthony Eslick’s PAT made it 7-0.
The Raiders (1-7, 0-3) struggled to find their footing offensively. Moore County’s first sustained drive – keyed by Petty’s connection with Taylor and solid runs from Chris Merical – ended with a fumble deep in Fayetteville territory, nixing a potential scoring opportunity.
Coach White acknowledged, “The frustrating part about it is you get ’em stopped first, second down, and now you’ve got third-and-8, third-and-7, and then you give up a 10-yard run. You play good defense, two or three plays in a row. Then just give up something to keep a drive going or line up offside. It's just stuff that we just can’t do. They got 'em in third-and-15 and give up a 16-yard pass”.
Fayetteville responded with another bruising series before Nnaji punched in a 1-yard score early in the second quarter. Eslick’s missed PAT made it 13-0.
Just before halftime, quarterback Nyles Barnett found Keson Reese for a 10-yard touchdown strike, stretching the Tigers’ lead to 20-0 at the break.
The Raiders opened the second half with a promising drive that reached Fayetteville territory, but a holding penalty and a stalled series forced a punt. The Tigers capitalized again – Nnaji scoring his second TD on an 11-yard burst late in the third quarter to make it 27-0.
From there, Barnett continued to keep the Tigers’ offense balanced, adding a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Jaden Thomas from 27 yards out. A blocked PAT left the score at 33-0 with just over seven minutes to play.
With the game out of reach, Moore County finally broke through. Petty led a late fourth-quarter drive before Taylor corralled the muffed snap, cutting upfield for a 64-yard touchdown – the lone highlight for the Raiders on an otherwise frustrating Homecoming night.
Petty finished 4 of 10 for 52 yards passing and added 10 yards on six carries. Merical had a team-high nine carries for 23 yards. Taylor was one of four receivers with a catch, hauling in a 25-yard pass. Defensively, Tristyn Gray had 17 tackles, including 1.5 for a loss.
Despite the frustration, White pointed to the effort and flexibility of his squad: “That just speaks to the type of kids we have. I mean, they enjoy being out there. They enjoy football and whatever you need ’em to do, they’re willing to jump in and do it”.
The score brought the final to 33-7 after Jax Ross’s extra point.
Looking ahead, White emphasized the positive attitude remaining in the locker room: “That’s what keeps me going is how their attitudes are.”
Moore County travels to Cornersville next week before wrapping up the regular season at home against Richland on Thursday, Oct. 30.
