Fort Payne snaps Arab’s perfect season 21-0

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - North Alabama has officially passed the halfway mark on the high school football season, Arab hosting Fort Payne in a non-region match-up for the 48 Blitz Game of the Week.

Before we get to the action on the field, Arab honored a special guest at Friday’s game: James Carson. Carson served in World War II under General Patton as a high-speed radio operator with the Army’s 69th Infantry Division - and he’s turning 100 this November! Thank you, Mr. Carson, for your service.

World War II veteran James Carson served under General Patton and was involved in the Battle... — World War II veteran James Carson served under General Patton and was involved in the Battle of the Bulge.(Georgia Chambers)

Alright now for the Game of the Week - Fort Payne had a lot to play on Friday. They went into last week’s bye on a loss. As for Arab - the Knights were looking to extend their perfect record so far this season.

The Wildcats were the first to score, Bennett Blanks finding his way into the end zone to put Fort Payne up 7-0. Arab would struggle up against Fort Payne’s dominant defense, failing to find the endzone in all four quarters of the game.

Fort Payne extended its lead going into the half, quarterback Jake Barnes launching it and connecting with Skyler Cody in the end zone. At the half, Fort Payne was up 14-0. The Wildcats carried this momentum into the the second half, Alex Akins driving it on fourth down to put Fort Payne up 21-0 in the third quarter. This would be the final score of the game, Fort Payne posting their first shutout of the season on the road.

“What a great opportunity for our kids and Arab’s kids,” Fort Payne Head Coach Chris Elmore said. “Two great fan bases, beautiful weather. Proud of both sides playing as hard as they played. Hopefully nobody came out too bad injured, and we can all come back and play... We wanted to come back tonight and prove that we can still play physical football and I think we did.”