Eagles second half puts away Panthers in playoff

The Fairfield Eagles outscored the Anahuac 41-7 in the second half to break open a close game and defeat the Panthers 62-21 in the bi-district round of the playoffs Friday night in Willis.

Anahuac controlled the time of possession in the first half, holding the ball for 17:30 while the Eagles only had it for 6:30, however, the Eagles took the lead into the locker room.

The Panthers took the first possession down the field and used 13 plays to travel 71 yards. The first nine were all on the ground, mixing up the runs with Jaytwan Dowdye and Oscar Garza. Anahuac picked up four first downs and melted over seven minutes on the clock. Junior quarterback Braydon Sutch pushed in from a yard out and the Panthers took the 7-0 lead.

Fairfield almost matched the drive outcome with a score, moving 69 yards in nine plays. Kyden Rodriguez ripped off 26-yard run across midfield. Kavion Hicks caught a 23-yard pass to the Panther 20 and Rodriguez went back to work on the running game. On third down from the Panther two, Rodriguez had the ball knocked away the Anahuac defense recovered, stopping the Eagle scoring threat.

The Eagle defense forced a punt, and the Eagles took over a midfield. Rodriguez carried twice for 23 yards and a first down. Senior quarterback Kohl Collins connected with Hicks for 26 yards across the middle to the one-yard line. Rodriguez took the handoff and bulldozed his way through for the touchdown and Kieran King added the extra point for the 7-7 tie with 9:45 remaining in the first half.

Anahuac used the formula from their first drive for the opportunity following the kickoff. They drove 64 yards in eleven plays and chewed away another six and a half minutes off the clock. Dowdye had a 14-yard run to convert a fourth down and Darius Richardson caught a rare pass to convert another down to the Eagle two. Garza scored the two-yard touchdown, and the Panthers regained the lead at 14-7 with just over three minutes remaining in the half.

The Fairfield offense made quick work of their next possession. Hicks was the main target again with a 27-yard catch and followed that with a 53-yard strike from Collins for the touchdown, tying the game at 14-14 with 1:53 remaining.

Anahuac took a loss on the first play of their final drive of the half, and the Eagles used a timeout. Darion Weatherall ran down Dowdye behind the line of scrimmage for a big loss, allowing the Eagles to burn their final timeout, forcing a Panther punt.

The Fairfield special teams were rewarded with a short punt and the Eagles set up at the Panther 48. Tylan Davis made a great catch on a 12 and Hicks made another catch from Collins down to the two-yard line. Rodriguez found room and scored the two-yard touchdown and the Eagles took their first lead at 21-14 of the contest with 24 seconds remaining in the half.

Hicks caught six passes for 163 yards and a touchdown in the first half, putting him over 1000 on the season.

The Eagles had the first possession of the second half and made quick work through the Panther defense. Finn Smith caught short pass, stumbled and put his hand down to steady himself and completed the third down 19-yard pass to inside the Panther 40 and also finished the drive with a 19-yard touchdown catch and the Eagle lead grew to 28-14 with two minutes gone in the second half.

Davonte Alexander ended the Panther possession with an interception and returned it to the Panther 32. Collins completed two passes on the drive and Rodriguez completed the score with a five-yard touchdown and the 35-14 lead.

Anahuac did match that score on a drive that would get them back to two scores. Sutch hit Aiden King with a catch and run that totaled 54 yards and then threw a touchdown pass that covered 27 yards to Richardson. The point after was good and the Panthers cut the lead to 35-21.

The Panthers pulled the surprise on sides kick and recovered the ball at the Eagle 46-yard line and the advanced to the Fairfield 11 when Sutch handed the ball off and it his running back in the shoulder and Kalil Appel recovered and Fairfield stopped the Panthers.

The Eagles moved out of the shadow of their own end and Collins dropped to pass and found a wide open Connor Colvert and he took care of the rest, completing a 72-yard score and the lead swelled to 41-21 after the missed extra point.

Weatherall recovered a Panther fumble, and the Eagles traveled the short 30 yards to put the game away. Davis caught an 18-yard pass and Smith hauled in the eight-yard touchdown.

Davis caught a 32-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter and Rodriguez added his fourth touchdown of the game in the 62-21 win.
Collins completed 17 of 23 passes for 393 yards and five touchdowns on the night and Hicks finished with seven receptions for 176 yards. Rodriguez had the bulk of the running game with 17 carries for 156 yards and four touchdowns.

Fairfield advances to the area round of the 3A Division I playoffs with a Friday game against the Yoakum Cowboys. The Cowboys defeated the McGregor Bulldogs 66-22 in their bi-district matchup. The top remaining teams in the region that won their first game are Columbus, Hitchcock, Franklin, Fairfield, Palestine Westwood, Orangefield and Hardin.

 

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