FUQUAY-VARINA - It didn’t take long for the wheels to fall off Friday night for Panther Creek in its 41-0 loss to host Fuquay-Varina. Trailing 14-0 midway through the second quarter, the Catamounts forced Fuquay into a punting situation on fourth-and-3 from its own 41-yard line.

In a bizarre series of events, the Bengals (4-1, 1-0 Tri Eight) faked the punt and went with a direct snap instead. Fuquay then fumbled but actually moved the ball forward three yards and earned a first down.

Fuquay continued marching down the field, capping off their drive with a 37-yard flea-flicker touchdown pass from running back Corey Mixon to Christian Neikens. That put the Bengals up 21-0 and seemingly took the wind out of the Catamounts’ sail. Mixon would also run for a score later in the game.

“That hurt. And physically, they just beat us,” said Panther Creek (0-5, 0-1) coach Wayne Bragg. “They just kicked our tails.”

A big part of that tail-kicking came from Fuquay running back Cory Hunter, who ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. All told, the Bengals piled on 380 rushing yards.

“Our line did a great job of opening the holes and our running backs did a great job of running through those holes,” said Fuquay coach Ryan Habich. “I think our running game kept the ball, which was good, but our defense shot down their offense.”

Though the Catamounts passed from 113 yards, they couldn’t get it done on the ground, earning just 79 yards on 25 carries.

“[With a score of] 41-0, it’s not one thing or another,” Bragg said. “We’ve got to overcome some adversity and keep working.”

The Bengals got things going in the right direction from the get-go, marching 80 yards in just over four minutes on their first possession to go up 7-0 when running back Eric Powell punched it in from four yards out.

In fact, Fuquay scored on each of its first six possessions and didn’t punt until the fourth quarter. In addition to the four scores on the ground and the flea-flicker touchdown, Bengal quarterback Kyle Canfield also threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Weatherman.

“Our emphasis is when we get down there [in the red zone], put the ball in the end zone. I thought we did a great job with executing,” Habich said. “This was by far our best game … offensively, defensively and on special teams.”