Fayette allowed just 34 yards of total offense in a 20-0 shutout of Knox County in the final game of the regular season.

The Falcons lost four fumbles and scored just one touchdown through the first three and a half quarters, but the defense kept the Eagles from taking advantage of those mistakes.

“I think we know that we had the talent to beat that team and we just laid it to them, really,” said Chase Allen, who had four solo tackles. “We just executed really well today.”

Chris Brown had five total tackles and a sack.

“They were trying to cut a lot so I just read my keys,” Brown said.

DJ Moore also had five tackles and a sack and Avery Powell had four solo stops.

Knox County lost more yards to penalties (57) than it gained with 18 passing yards and 16 rushing yards.

“I thought we were pretty dominant on the defensive side of the ball overall,” coach Mike Thompson said. “We made a few mistakes here and there.

“(Quarterback Connor Hayes) is a good player, he makes you be honest and he makes you play good assignment football and I thought we did a pretty good job. Once he gets some space, he’s hard to get a hold of and I thought we did a good job of rallying to him.”

Hayes completed four of 14 passes and rushed five times for a single yard.

Garren Vroman finally got the Falcons on the scoreboard with 3:45 remaining in the first half. An Eagle linebacker had a chance to make a play, but Vroman eluded the tackle and went 28 yards for the touchdown.

“We worked on it all week, driving through tacklers and making a play off of it,” Vroman said. “I just ran into him, spun off and just made a play from there.”

Perhaps more impressive was Vroman’s four-yard carry on fourth-and-4 from the Knox County 46-yard line earlier on the touchdown drive.

Vroman was hit in the backfield, but ran through the initial tackle and fought to the first down marker.

“He made a great play, kept his feet moving,” Thompson said. “That kid had a bead on him and he just made a play.”

Vroman rushed 23 times for 136 yards and three touchdowns.  

“He’s got great balance, he’s got great vision and great feel,” Thompson said. “But tonight is probably as physical of a game as he’s had… He’s hard to get a shot on, but tonight with some of the stuff we were doing, he was just putting his shoulder down and saying ‘OK lets go.'

"He’s got some talent and when he gets out in space you’re not going to catch him, but he’s developing into a more physical runner as well.”

Brown’s sack for a loss of 16 yards helped the Falcons get great field position midway through the fourth quarter. Vroman had a 20-yard carry to the 15-yard line on third down, and then scored on an eight-yard carry to put Fayette ahead 12-0.

Another 28-yard touchdown from Vroman and a 2-point pass from Ben Wells to Dillan Lembke was the final dagger with 1:47 left.

“Our line got things together and started working as a group,” Vroman said about the late rushing success. “That’s all credit to them, that whole second half is all credit to them.”

Zach Henderson had 46 yards on six carries and DJ Moore carried seven times for 45 yards.

Wells completed 8 of 14 passes for 66 yards. Vroman caught three passes for 38 yards and Allen had two catches for 20 yards.

Fayette outgained Knox County 287-34, but couldn’t find the endzone for the first 20 minutes of the first half, and again for the first 18 minutes of the second half.

“It’s so many different things,” Thompson said about the offensive struggles.

“You put the ball on the ground, a penalty, you go backwards on a play because of a misunderstanding of the blocking scheme.

“One of those plays you can sometimes overcome, but two plays are hard to overcome, back to back. Really, it’s just cleaning those things up and not making those mistakes so we can stay even with the chains or ahead of them. Then we’re pretty good. If we get enough chances, were going to bust something.”

Each team turned the ball over two times during the first eight minutes of the game.

Kaden Polson nearly dropped an interception opportunity in the first quarter, but had a spectacular recovery to give Fayette possession.

“I saw the ball coming in so I dove to go get it, but I lost it at the last second because of the lighting,” Polson said.

“It went right through my hands. I felt the ball roll down my whole body, but I clenched it between my knees. When I rolled over, it popped back up and I caught it.”

Fayette improves to 5-4 with the win and finishes fifth in Class 1 District 6.

Carrollton (4-5) finished fourth in the district, but Fayette will host the first-round postseason game because of a 42-8 head-to-head win over Carrollton in week one.