The Mexia Blackcats forced five turnovers in a pivotal district game and dominated the Fairfield Eagles 37-10 Friday night at Eagle Field. It was the first victory in Fairfield for Mexia since 2006.
Both teams came into the game unbeaten in district play and the Blackcats join Conally as the only remaining teams without a loss and Mexia will host them on Friday.
The first quarter was the same rivalry these teams have enjoyed over the years, exchanging punts and the defenses set the tone. It was the defense that put points on the board. Mexia was driving inside the Fairfield 20 yard line and quarterback Jaden Proctor rolled left and tossed a pass that was plucked out of the air by Dylon Rushin at the nine and returned it 91 yards for the first touchdown of the game. Tyler Haynes kicked the extra point for the 7-0 late in the first quarter.
Mexia would punt on the next possession and the Eagles possession stalled when Dawson Scott tackled Jar-Mychael Hudson for a loss on fourth down at the Fairfield 42. It took only six plays for the Blackcats to get into position and Jarrell Wiley scored on a nine yard run for the score.
Gustavo Martinez added the extra point and the score was tied 7-7 with 7:52 remaining in the first half.
The Eagles drive stalled after the score and the punt was blocked and only travelled 16 yards and the Blackcats put their offense back on the field. It was a second six play drive and Wiley took the ball on the scoring play and burst up the middle for the 21 yard touchdown. Proctor scored the two point conversion and Mexia led 15-7 when the teams headed to the locker room.
Disaster struck on the second half kickoff when the Eagles special teams unit bobbled the ball for the second time in the game that was recovered by Mexia. The Blackcats needed two plays, a 21 yard run by Proctor and a 28 yard scamper by Wiley for his third touchdown of the game. The pass for two was good and the Blackcats opened up a 23-7 lead early in the third quarter.
Fairfield put together a good drive and cut into the lead. Beginning at their own 37, quarterback Justin Abram picked up a key first down on a 26 yard run into Mexia territory. The drive stalled near the Blackcat 20 and Haynes came on for a 40 yard field goal try. The kick hit the lower crossbar and bounced over for the score and the Eagles trailed 23-10 with 8:38 remaining in the third.
The teams exchanged a couple of possessions and on a Fairfield punt, Trey Holdman fielded the punt and returned it 40 yards to the Fairfield 36 yard line. On the first play of the drive, Tray Jones took the handoff and sprinted past the left side of the line and raced 36 yards for the touchdown. Martinez added the point after and the lead extended to 30-10.
On the first play of the next drive, the Eagles committed their fourth turnover of the night. Abram completed a pass to DeQuann McWilliams for a 37 yard gain but the ball was fumbled and recovered by Mexia defensive back Jalen Busby. Mexia began to hit on some big plays in the drive, first a 37 yard run by Wiley and Jones with a 13 yard run into Eagle territory. Proctor completed a pass to Holdman for a 28 yard completion on fourth down to the Eagle five. Proctor called his own number on an easy five yard run into the endzone and Blackcat lead swelled to 37-10.
The teams exchanged turnovers in the final quarter with no real threat to score and the Blackcats closed out the dominating win.
Conally leads the district at 3-0 with their win over Madisonville and the Blackcats are a half game back at 2-0. Fairfield is 2-1 and will move into the open week before they travel to Conally for a meeting with the Cadets.
(Photos by Melissa Lee)
