The difference here being the miscue – and Budde’s hustle and ability to get a punt off anyway — combined with an interception on the next play helped swing things the Bengals’ way en route to a 14-7 victory.

After Budde retrieved the ball in the end zone and got off a punt that rolled dead at the Bengal 46-yard line, teammate Justin Thomas intercepted a Comets’ pass attempt (their first of the night) and returned it 19 yards into Clayton territory.

It was a two-play stretch that helped swing the game in the Bengals’ favor in your otherwise typical Fuquay-Varina and Clayton battle. Three plays after the pick, Eric Powell raced home on a 12-yard touchdown run.

“That’s the kind of thing where we had a chance to make a game-changing play and we didn’t,” said Clayton coach Gary Fowler, whose been a part of the longtime Bengal-Comet rivalry since the early 1980s. “Then Fuquay makes one [with the interception] and we got in a hole we couldn’t get out of.

“It was probably a 14-point swing.”

The Bengals added another touchdown on their next drive, a plodding 14-play march and led 14-0 at the half.

It was all the Fuquay-Varina (2-0) defense needed as Clayton (0-2) mustered only 140 yards of offense on the night.

“We knew this would be a tough came, it’s been that way the last two years,” said Fuquay-Varina coach Ryan Habich. “You know it’s going to probably be a defensive-dominated game coming in and it’s going to be two strong, physical football teams battling hard all night.”

Fuquay-Varina relied on a balanced rushing attack. Five Bengals total 20 or more rushing yards on the night. Cory Hunter led the way with 81 yards on 22 carries, while quarterback Nate Budde added 71 yards on just eight carries, including a 24-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that turned out to be the difference in the contest.

“We knew going into the season that teams were going to key on our fullback [Hunter], so we knew it would be important to be balanced,” Habich said. “We’ve been able to have some balance with a lot of guys contributing behind an offensive line that’s doing a good job so far this season.”

Clayton closed to within 14-7 midway of the fourth quarter, finally putting together a long, plodding drive. The Comets covered 71 yards in eight plays. A 31-yard diving reception by Sean Wensley (from Matt Reid) helped set up Montrelle Sanders’ 5-yard touchdown run with 6:18 to play.

The Bengals’ effective ground attack never gave Clayton another chance, rolling off the final six-plus minutes of play with a drive featuring plenty of Hunter runs. Fifty-eight of his 81 yards came in the second half.

“You can’t spot Fuquay 14 points and we did that tonight,” Fowler said. “What Ryan has done over there is continue to build on Fuquay’s rich history of football. I’ve been around this match-up for 25 years and this was one of the most hard-fought of the battles I’ve been in.