A brand new era of Fox Lane Football got started on the right foot Saturday night in front of fans at home.
Behind the iron man performance of quarterback/cornerback/punter T.J. Hallock and a stout defensive performance in the 2nd half, the Foxes defeated the Carmel Rams 18-14 in the season opener.
On Fox Lane's second possession of the game, after losing a fumble on its first drive, it went 80 yards in 11 plays, culminating with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Hallock to John Horner on a 3rd-and-15. The extra point was blocked and the score was 6-0.
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Carmel answered with an 11-play drive of its own, getting a 33-yard touchdown run and taking the lead, 7-6.
The end of the first half though was very rough for Hallock and the Foxes. The final two possessions for Fox Lane resulted in turnovers, as Hallock was intercepted twice. Carmel scored after the second interception, on a 5-yard touchdown run and at the half it was 14-6 in favor of the Rams.
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When the secondd half began Hallock had a chance to redeem himself, and he did so with his legs.
Hallock got the Foxes within two points with a 9-yard touchdown run. His run on the 2-point conversion failed and the Foxes still trailed 14-12.
After Carmel had to punt the ball away again, Hallock and the 0ffense went about trying to get the lead back. On a 2nd-and-15, Hallock ran for a 19-yard gain and combined with a personal foul on Carmel, the ball was moved to Carmel's 3-yard line.
On the next play, Hallock found Tight End Will Trawick on a fade for the go-ahead touchdown from three yards out, and Fox Lane, after missing another two-point conversion, had taken an 18-14 lead with 11 minutes left in the fourth.
"I thought that play was a very good call," said Hallock. "Will Trawick, this big strong physical kid, has got good hands and I knew if I threw up to him, he'd catch it, so I did," he said.
Hallock finished the game with 94 yards rushing and 72 yards passing with a touchdown run and two touchdown passes.
With 47 seconds left, Carmel had one more shot to win the game, but after starting at its own 11-yard line, the drive stalled as time ran out with Carmel on the Fox Lane 29-yard line. Fox Lane didn't allow a point in the second half.
Besides the play of Hallock, the unsung heroes of the game were the Fox Lane defense.
"We made some adjustments to some of the formations, and started stunting some more and that helped us," said Coach Bill Broggy.
