Cody Paugh ran for 145 yards and a touchdown and he also threw for a score in leading Fairport Harding to a 45-6 win over visiting Richmond Heights in Friday’s Senior Night win.
“We’re proud of these seniors for their efforts tonight,” Fairport coach Cameron Ruff said. “They had a goal to win their Senior Night game and they accomplished that with a huge win over Richmond Heights. These seniors have led the way for this program to experience wins like these and we’re proud of their hard work.”
The Skippers scored twice in the first quarter on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Sam Schuster to Justice Bartley and a 32-yard pick-six by Tai Malone.
Paugh threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Whitt and Schuster ran in the two-point conversion to push the Fairport lead to 22-0 at halftime.
The Skippers added a 27-yard touchdown pass from Schuster to Dillon Knesebeck and Paugh ran for a 47-yard touchdown, which helped him to push past the 1,000-yard mark on the season.
“Our offensive line made some adjustments at halftime to be able to run the ball during the second half,” Ruff said. “Cody Paugh ran for 145 yards to pass 1,000 for the season with another game remaining. He also passed for a score and Sam was efficient passing the ball all over for two scores to Justice and Dillon and a big gain to Ethan Whitt.”
Josiah Cooper’s 17-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter gave the Skippers a 45-0 lead.
Schuster completed 8-of-11 passes for 114 yards with two scores and Paugh was 1-for-1 through the air for nine yards and a touchdown.
“Our defense tackled well and Tai Malone came up with two big interceptions with one for a score in the first quarter for his first varsity touchdown,” Ruff said. “Josiah Cooper ran well for his first varsity score as well.”
Richmond Heights scored a late touchdown on a 9-yard reception by Rico McPherson.
