GRANT, Ala. – The Fairview Aggies traveled up the mountain to Grant to take on the D.A.R. Patriots and a warm September night for football. Both teams got off to a fast start scoring on their first possessions. With 3:09 left in the first quarter, the score was tied 7-7.
The Patriots scored late in the first quarter to make the score going into the second quarter 14-7. Both teams continued their fast start scoring on their first possessions of the second quarter. Fairview missed the extra point making the score 21-13 D.A.R. with 7:09 to go in the half.
Fairview stiffened on D.A.R.’s second possession of the second quarter when Mason Black intercepted Justin Stubblefield’s pass at D.A.R.’s 45-yard line. Tyvn Ellis scored from 5 yards out and Fairview successfully went for two to tie the score 21-21 with 5:06 left in the first half.
D.A.R. completed a seven-play drive when Brady Largen scored on a 30-yard run to make the score 28-21 in favor of D.A.R. with 2:53 to go in the second quarter. Fairview took over at its own 45-yard line with under three minutes to go in the half. After a couple of incompletions by Martin Parker, it appeared the Aggies would go to halftime down a touchdown. An unsportsmanlike penalty against D.A.R. gave new life to Fairview.
With 4.4 seconds to go in the half and the ball at D.A.R.’s 37-yard line, Parker threw a Hail Mary pass that was tipped then caught by JT White for a touchdown. The extra point tied the ballgame at half 28-28. Fairview got the ball to start the second half and proceeded to establish its running game. An 11-play drive gave the Aggies the lead when Ellis scored from the 2-yard line making the score 35-28 halfway through the third quarter.
A quick three-and-out by D.A.R. gave the Aggies the ball again. Seven plays later, Fairview had the ball fourth-and-2 from D.A.R.’s 2-yard line. On the next play, Parker’s pass fell incomplete in the end zone and D.A.R. got the ball on downs at their own 2-yard line.
During the next drive, Tyler Darling had a 69-yard run with a 10-yard penalty against Fairview tacked on putting the Patriots in great field position. On fourth-and-8 from Fairview’s 20-yard line, Stubblefield completed a pass to Ben Sutton for a touchdown with the extra point tying the score 35-35 at the end of the third quarter.
After the kickoff, five straight running plays led to a 5-yard touchdown run by Tyler Simmons. The Aggies now led 42-35 early in the second half. A drive by D.A.R. into Fairview territory was stopped when Black recovered Largen’s fumble on Fairview’s 26-yard line.
A nine-play drive by the Aggies with no passes ended when Simmons scored from the 5-yard line making the score 49-35. White stopped the next Patriot drive with an interception of Stubblefield.
After White’s interception return, Fairview had the ball on their own 32-yard line. On the first play, Ellis scored on a 32-yard touchdown run and the score was 56-35 Fairview. Assisted by a Fairview personal foul, D.A.R. scored six plays later on a Stubblefield 2-yard pass making the score 56-41. Fairview recovered the onside kick, and on the first play scored again on 48-yard touchdown run completing the scoring. The final score was 62-41 in a high-scoring event.
Highlighting Fairview’s night was their running game. Ellis had more yards rushing (235) in the second half than Fairview had total yards in the first half (232).
Ellis ended the night with 312 yards rushing on 30 carries while scoring six TDs. Simmons finished with 117 yards on 19 carries. As a team Fairview had 505 yards rushing on 58 carries.
Fairview’s Coach George Redding said, “The key to our success was our offensive line. We saw some things at the end of the first half that led us to believe we could run the ball successfully. On the defensive side of the ball, we had some key stops.”
Fairview is home next week against St. John Paul II Catholic High School.
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