Diving to bring down the Salado ball carrier is Fairfield Eagles #9 Ulyses Ramirez Rangel.
The Fairfield Eagles fell behind in the fourth quarter and could not gain the lead and lost the district 9-4A Division II opener at home to the Salado Eagles. The large annual homecoming crowd watched Fairfield drop to 1-5 on the season and 0-1 in district play.
The Salado Eagles played a strong ball control tempo the entire night. All three scoring drives for Salado went at least nine plays and took several minutes off the game clock.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Salado had the ball for a long drive that began in the opening quarter. As the Salado Eagles neared the goal, Trey Sheppard took a handoff up the middle and got the offense to the Fairfield five-yard line. Aaron Torczynski took it the rest of the way for the five-yard touchdown. The point after was blocked and the Eagles took a 6-0 lead on the road.
Fairfield did not waste any time answering the score. Quarterback Zac Barlow connected on a couple of passes to Erick Rodriguez-Reyes and Nick Mooneyham for 20 yards. Barlow called his own number and scored on a 28 yard run to tie the score at 6-6. Rodriguez-Reyes came on to tack on the extra point and the Eagles of Fairfield had a 7-6 lead.
The one-point lead held up until Salado was able to add a couple of touchdowns in the second half. Salado took the second half kickoff and marched methodically down the field and used 13 plays to go 62 yards for the go ahead touchdown. Torczynski bulled his way in from one yard out and the Salado Eagles went for two. Torczynski added the two-point run and Salado took the 14-7 lead.
Salado took advantage of a fumble near midfield to go ahead by two scores. The Eagle offense went back to the field and scored in nine plays on a 15 yard run by Sheppard. The point after was good and the Salado Eagles, projected last in the district race, had a 21-7 lead.
Fairfield again used little time to get back in the game. The fast paced offense took 11 plays in not much time to close out the 60-yard drive. Barlow found Mooneyham in the end zone for the five-yard score and cut the lead to 21-14.
The Fairfield defense held Salado to a three and out and had a chance to tie the score in the late moments of regulation. Fairfield began on their own 20-yard line and had three incomplete passes, forcing a fourth down. Barlow hit Akeem Jackson for an 18-yard first down. The offense was near midfield with only a few second remaining and Barlow’s pass was picked off and Salado sealed the hard fought win.
The Fairfield Eagles have four games remaining in the regular season and will travel to Robinson to take on the high powered offensive numbers on the season. Robinson defeated Conally in the battle of Waco and currently lead the district race along with Lorena and Salado. Game time is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
Eagles Quarterback #7 Zac Barlow keeps the ball for a run that scores their second touchdown of the night.
