FAYETTEVILLE — Watching Wahama play in a preseason scrimmage, Fayetteville coach Frank Spangler knew his Pirates would face a big challenge against the White Falcons in Friday’s season opener.

The visitors didn’t disappoint, scoring on their first five possessions and dominating the first half en route to a 35-7 conquest of the undermanned Pirates at Fletcher Arritt Memorial Stadium.

“They’ve got a great football team,” Spangler said. “They’ve got pretty good athletes and they execute well.

“We knew what they were going to do. They dominated us in all phases of the game. At the end of the season, they’ll be in the hunt for the single-A championship.”

Quarterback Trenton Gibbs got the scoring started for Wahama with a 38-yard scoring pass to Colton Neal with 7:57 to play in the first stanza. The drive featured a 26-yard run by Zack Wamsley, then Neal got wide open in the right flat to catch the scoring aerial.

Gibbs then added a 60-yard TD jaunt and tossed a 32-yard score to Austin Jordan, making it 21-0 after one period. During that quarter, the White Falcons outgained Fayetteville 192-19.

The White Falcons continued their dominance in the second frame, getting TDs from Crandale Neal (9-yard run) and Wamsley (18-yard run) to carry a 35-0 bulge into intermission. Wamsley’s score was set up by an interception by teammate Louis Menendez.

“We got to do some things we had just put into our offense,” said veteran Wahama coach Ed Cromley, whose team was state runner-up in 2010 and was a Class A semifinalist in 2011, the latter including a second-round playoff win over Fayetteville. “We did real well with the limited time (they had spent on those plays in practice). The kids adapted well.

“And the defense played real well.”

“I thank Coach Cromley for using his second and third units,” said Spangler. “They could have done some major damage (scoring-wise) to us.

“That’s a sign the coach has a lot of class.”

While getting some defensive stops in the second half, the Fayetteville offense also showed signs of life. The Pirates put several first-and-10s together and proceeded on a long drive that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth. That march, however, ended on downs on an unsuccessful Aaron Krise scramble inside the 5.

But, the Fayetteville offense responded again as the game wound down, taking the pigskin at the White Falcon 49 with 3:06 to play following a punt.

First-down runs by Hunter Pullens (17 and 4 yards) and Krise (12 yards) set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Pullens with 1:15 to play.

“We did see some bad things and made some mistakes, but I saw more positive things than I did bad,” said Spangler. “We’re going to get better.”

Gibbs led the Wahama offense with 135 yards passing (6-of-9) with two TDs and 80 rushing yards and one score.

For Fayetteville, Pullens registered 51 yards and the score on 11 carries. Tasheem Collins had 10 attempts for 59 yards, and Krise rushed 17 times for 52 yards.

The Pirates will seek their first win Friday when Fayette County rival Midland Trail visits Arritt Stadium. “We have to get to work Monday for Midland Trail,” said Spangler. “That should be a good game.”

— E-mail: skeenan@register-herald.com

Wahama 35, Fayetteville 7

W (1-0)  21      14    0    0    —    35

F (0-1)    0      0    0    7    —    7

First Quarter

W: Colton Neal 38 pass from Trenton Gibbs (Zack Wamsley kick), 7-0, 7:57

W: Gibbs 60 run (Wamsley kick), 14-0, 5:59

W: Austin Jordan 32 pass from Gibbs (Wamsley kick), 21-0, 1:26

Second Quarter

W: Crandale Neal 9 run (Wamsley kick), 28-0, 9:21

W: Wamsley 18 run (Wamsley kick), 35-0, 6:59

Fourth Quarter

F: Hunter Pullens 3 run (Aaron Krise kick), 35-7, 1:15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — W: Wamsley 5-59-1, Gibbs 6-80-1, Kane Roush 4-14, Cr. Neal 6-34-1, Timmy Gibbs 3-3, Wyatt Wooten 4-15. F: Pullens 11-51-1, Krise 17-52, Tasheem Collins 10-59, Jake Alton 5-17, Cameron Underwood 6-12, Team 1-(-4).

PASSING — W: Tr. Gibbs 6-9-0-135-2, Wyatt Zuspan 0-1-0-0-0. F: Krise 2-6-1-14-0, Pullens 0-1-0-0-0.

RECEIVING — W: Co. Neal 1-38-1, Jordan 1-32-1, Roush 2-10, Zuspan 1-36, Cr. Neal 1-19. F: Pullens 1-(-1), Alton 1-15.

TURNOVERS — W: Louis Menendez (INT). F: None.