DASHER—On a wild night in Dasher that saw the lights go out twice, a few unsportsmanlike penalties and an intentional grounding by the Generals that became an eventual safety, the Generals dropped their homecoming game against Fullington 24-7.

The Homecoming game festivities started at 6 p.m. and featured senior volleyball player, Jenna Sykes, as homecoming queen and senior football player, Micah James, as homecoming king.

In the pregame warm-up’s the Generals looked ready for their first home game in nearly a year.

“We feel good,” head coach Chuck Knapp said. “Everyone is excited for the game. I feel like we’re loose, and I think it is because we are at home. Our energy is up; it has been up all day. Mason (Finney) looks good. We are just happy to play at home.”

In the game, Dante Sacco led the way in stats for the Generals. The senior rushed for 60 yards on the night and had some huge hits on defense.

The first play of the game was a five-yard completed pass to senior wideout, Christian Johnson, followed by a three-yard run by Sacco. On third down, Fullington got called for defensive pass interference to bail the Generals out.

After two incompletions and a holding penalty, the Generals were in a third-and-long situation. Finney threw an interception to end the drive and Fullington took over.

On Fullington’s first play, senior John Lissimore made the tackle in the backfield. A six-yard carry followed that, with Sacco making a stop. On third-and-five, Fullington threw their first pass attempt and gained the first down.

A big run that resulted in a Waco huge hit on the play would give Fullington field position in the redzone. A one-yard loss resulting in a Galindo tackle and a tackle by the homecoming king himself, James, put the Generals defense in a third-down situation. But, Fullington punched it in with the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.

Fullington gambled and went for an onside kick to begin the second quarter and it would pay off, as they recovered it.

Their first play resulted in a penalty. The second play would result in the Generals’ homecoming king, Micah James, intercepting a pass and taking it 60 yards for a Generals touchdown. Galindo’s kick made it it 8-7 in the second quarter.

The Generals would kickoff and senior, John Michael “JM” Castleberry made the stop. But the Generals were not on defense for very long, as Sacco forced the fumble ad make the recovery on the play.

The first play on offense was a three-yard carry by Sacco and then a huge block by Sacco to setup a third-and-one on a run by quarterback Mason Finney.

Fullington sent the house on the next play. Despite breaking two tackles, Sacco was not able to get back to the line of scrimmage.

The Generals went for it on fourth down and it looked like Johnson had the pass hauled in, but the defender punched it out at the last second. Turnover Fullington.

On the next drive for Fullington, the Generals would play tough defense, as senior, Miguel Trejo, would stop the first down carry. On back to back plays, a host of Generals would make tackles to force the fourth-and-five. In a game of cat and mouse, Fullington would draw the Generals offsides to get the first down.

That wouldn’t matter, as two plays later, Lissimore would pickup the fumble, the third forced turnover by the Generals.

In a last attempted drive before the half, Sacco would get a six-yard carry after the incomplete pass on first down. On third-and-four, Waco would deliver a huge block to gain a first down by Finney.

A five-yard run by Waco and a six-yard carry by Sacco would set the Generals up in great field position, with a first down.

Unfortunately, it would all go downhill from there. A bad snap would result in a seven-yard loss. The second down pass would fall incomplete. Two unsportsmanlike penalties in a row would back the Generals to third and forever. Finney would run the ball to go into the half.

“We’re killing ourselves right there,” Knapp said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot. We can’t make those kinds of mistakes. We have to finish those drives when we get opportunities like that. The defense is playing lights out. I like what I am seeing from them.”

After halftime, Fullington would again try the onside kick, but the Generals were prepared for it, as Lissimore would recover the ball.

On the first play, the Generals would draw the defense offsides. On first-and-five, Sacco ripped off a 30-yard carry that saw him run over a defender in the process.

He followed that by a four-yard carry. On second-and-six, the Generals got back to the line of scrimmage and that was all. On third-and-six, Finney would throw a pass to senior wideout, Garrett Dowdy, but the defense committed another pass interference to setup first and goal.

On the first play, Fullington sent the house and dropped Sacco behind the line of scrimmage. The following play would result in an interception thrown by Finney.

On the ensuing possession, the Generals would play good defense as there were several plays that saw a host of Generals making the tackle.

Sacco had three tackles on the drive, including two big hits. Galindo, Waco and Hendrix Grimes also had big hit and forced Fullington into a third and twenty-seven, which led to an eventual punt.

A quick three-and-out for the Generals that saw two incomplete passes and a tackle for loss would result in a punt by Dowdy.

Fullington had a few good runs, but they were all tackled by a host of Generals on the next drive as the entire defense was around the ball all night long.

But they could not hold Fullington, as they would punch it in again and add the two-point conversion to make it 16-7.

The Generals would not get much on the kick return and it would have them in the shadow of their own goal line. Finney would make a five-step drop on the play and with Fullington blitzing in, he threw the ball up for grabs.

After it hit the turf, the refs were deliberating for what seemed to be an eternity. The play resulted in an intentional grounding but was ruled as a safety since Finney was in his own endzone.

Fullington would go up 18-7.

After the ruling, the Generals would suffer another unsportsmanlike penalty that forced Galindo to punt from his own endzone.

Fullington would take over there and the Generals defense would play tough. In what appeared to be another fumble recovery by Lissimore, the refs blew the whistle late and ruled the runner to be down.

The Generals would commit two more unsportsmanlike penalties on the pay that gave Fullington excellent field position as they easily punched it in. They missed the two-point conversion. Fullington led 24-7.

JM would receive the kickoff on the next play for the Generals and it looked like he almost broke loose but was brought down at the last second.

Two incomplete passes later and a Johnson catch would result in a three-and-out.

On the last drive of the night, the lights would go out on Fullington. After a fifteen-minute delay, the lights final came back on. With less than two minutes in the game, the lights would go off again. After a few minutes of a delay, the game was called.

Fullington would avenge their playoff loss the Generals handed them last season.

“I feel like we had a great first half,” Knapp said. The defense played lights out all game, they just got tired the second half. We shot ourselves in the foot with all of the penalties. Not to mention we had the bad plays also. We have to finish. We had drives where we could have scored, and we didn’t.”

“Fullington came in here with a purpose; to avenge that loss and they did. I saw fight in our guys all night long. We are still a work in progress. We are young in the trenches on both sides of the ball.”

Though the Generals did not win, several players made key plays in the game and much improvement has been made on both sides of the ball.

The Generals will take on John Hancock in Sparta next Friday night.