SOUTHERN PINES – Had you looked at the Fuquay-Varina football schedule as early as August you would have seen a practice scheduled for Thanksgiving Day. Sure enough, after Friday night’s 41-7 second round playoff win at Southern Pines Pinecrest, the Bengals will assemble for practice this Thursday - Thanksgiving Day. They will be preparing for a NCHSAA 4-AA Sectional matchup with Wake Forest-Rolesville (13-0).

It never hurts to plan ahead.

Fifth-seeded Fuquay (11-2) used some big plays and several Patriots’ miscues to stun fourth-seeded Pinecrest (10-3) on their home turf. This Friday, the Bengals will travel to top-seeded Wake Forest-Rolesville in the sectional round at Heritage High, the Cougars temporary home this year.

The 2006 season was the last time Fuquay made it to the third round of the state playoffs. That year, the Bengals lost to eventual state champion, Greenville Rose. The last two seasons, Fuquay exited in the second round.

On Friday night, the Bengals got an early start on punching their ticket to sectionals. Senior quarterback, Nate Budde capped a 70-yard opening drive with a three-yard touchdown run. The drive included a 15-yard pass from Budde to Malcom Thaxton, and it wasn’t the last time the Bengals took to the air. Fuquay finished the night with 86 passing yards to go with 200 on the ground.

“We knew that we’d have to throw the ball a little bit and open up a little bit on offense and take some chances tonight,” Fuquay coach Ryan Habich said. “And our kids did a great job with it.”

Things quieted down after the opening drive as the Bengals and Patriots traded possessions before Fuquay hit the stepped on the accelerator, scoring three touchdowns in under 40 seconds to close out the half and take a 27-0 lead into intermission.

Fuquay senior Isaac Minor scored on an 11-yard run at the 1:58 mark of the second quarter. Then he scored again seconds later from his linebacker position on defense. Minor stripped the ball from Pinecrest quarterback, Ben Williams and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown. Minor described the play that quieted the big Pinecrest crowd and ignited the large traveling party from southern Wake County. “I hit the quarterback, and I was like, ‘Alright, he’s still standing – hey, there’s the football.’ I took off running and I was hoping the ref wasn’t going to blow the whistle. I just kept running.”

Then as if the Bengals had scripted it, Pinecrest mishandled the ensuing kickoff, allowing Fuquay to recover the ball at the Patriots 33 yard line. The Bengals then scored again on their first play using a little trickery with a halfback pass play from Hunter to Travis Long for a touchdown.

“It’s happened to me before, but we’ve never done it before,” Habich said of scoring so many points so quickly. “It was just one of those games where our kids came out and played, and our kids won that game tonight.”

Following another Pinecrest turnover on their first possession of the second half, Hunter capped a 48-yard Fuquay drive with a one-yard scoring run.

The Patriots got on the board early in the fourth quarter as Williams connected with James Baldwin on a six-yard touchdown pass.

On the kickoff, Fuquay recovered and advanced an onside attempt to set up another short-field scoring drive. Thaxton was at it again, running around the left end for a six-yard touchdown to make it 41-7.

Hunter eclipsed the 2,000 rushing yard mark during the game. The junior fullback is averaging 157.4 yards per contest. He’s rushed for 2,046 yards and 35 touchdowns on the season

Fuquay will face a stiff test against Wake Forest-Rolesville. The Cougars are averaging 31.5 points per game and allowing just 4 per contest. Running backs, Trea Jones (117.8 yards per game) and James Harris (82 yards per game) lead the ground attack. Quarterback, Dan Tomchick is throwing for 49.7 yards per game.

The Cougars are coming off a 42-8 blowout of Garner High in the second round. Fuquay and WF-R had only one common opponent this fall: Clayton High. The Bengals beat Clayton 14-7 on August 29. The Cougars downed Clayton 16-14 on September 11, but blasted the Comets 55-0 in a first round playoff game on November 13.