And that had some of them, well, defensive.

"All we've heard about is Cary High's defense," said junior defensive back Garrett Suggs. "We wanted to show them that we're one of the top areas in the area and that our defense is top-of-the-line."

The Bengals wasted little time in trying to prove just that.

Fuquay scored 13 points on their first two drives, then locked down the Imps' offense and never looked back in a crucial 19-8 Tri-Nine Conference victory Friday night.

Cary enjoyed great field position for most of the game and even outgained the Bengals by six yards. But Fuquay got stops when it needed to -- holding Cary to 0-for-5 on fourth-down conversions with all of them in or just outside the red zone.

Often those stops were made thanks to quick pressure from defensive linemen Duece Johnson (three tackles for loss), Tyson Fernandez (two sacks). Demetrious Rudolph and Quinton Harris also added tackles for loss.

"Our defense came out ready to play. They wanted to show that we're a good defense too," Fuquay coach Ryan Habich said. "Our kids take pride in great defense."

Fuquay's first drive of the game went 69 yards on eight plays, ending with a 22-yard end-around reverse touchdown run by receiver Kyle Smith. On its next drive, the Bengals went 78 yards on seven plays, with quarterback Evan McNeill finding a diving Hayden Read in the back left corner of the end zone.

And just like that, Fuquay (4-1, 2-1) had scored as many touchdowns as the Imps (4-1, 2-1) had allowed in their first four games combined. Cary was slow to adjust to the Bengals' misdirection runs out of the wing-T offense. Only five of Fuquay's 46 rushes on the night went for negative yardage.

The Imps corrected their earlier mistakes and held the Bengals scoreless over much of the next three quarters, but by that time Fuquay was establishing its own defensive dominance.

With Cary desperate to get on the board in the fourth, Fuquay intercepted three passes in the final period. One of them by defensive lineman Rogeric Harper set up a 16-yard touchdown pass on fourth down from McNeill to Suggs.

McNeill, a 6-feet-2 senior, isn't asked to pass much in the Bengals' offense, but his efficiency in recent games has been hard to top.

He has completed 12 passes in his last three games, with half of them going for touchdowns.

"We make big plays in the passing game to complement the run," McNeill said. "I've been working on my throws and keeping my composure and to just trust my receivers."

Suggs and Smith each had one interception and one touchdown on the night. For Suggs, it kept alive his season-long streak of one interception per game. He had seven last year as a sophomore.

"We knew we needed that win," Suggs said. "If we didn't get it, we knew our (conference championship) hopes were probably over."

Cary tried its best to liven up the final minute, scoring on a 1-yard run from R.J. Banks with 44 seconds left before trying and recovering an onside kick. Imps junior Caleb Glass actually returned the kick for a Imps touchdown after it deflected off a Fuquay player, but the play was called back as a kickoff cannot be advanced without the receiving team first establishing possession.

The Imps' DeAndre Henry (22-104) and Fuquay's Carlton Bridges (21-115) each had 100-yard rushing games.

Next week's games will provide a match-ups between the Tri-Nine's top four teams, with Panther Creek (4-1, 3-0) visiting Fuquay and Cary traveling to Middle Creek (3-2, 2-0)

Fuquay-Varina has now won 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series.