As the ball sailed through the uprights as the buzzer sounded, the Fairfield Eagles found themselves at the bottom of the district standings in the 20-17 heartbreaking loss to the Madisonville Mustangs at Eagle Field Friday night.
The game appeared to be headed for a delay when the east side of Fairfield was without power due to a pole being hit. The real MVPs on the night was the power company when they restored power about ten minutes before the scheduled start and the game began about two minutes after it was scheduled to begin.
Fairfield took the ball to begin the game and drove to midfield when the first of four turnovers in the game would occur. Chad Rushin returned to the lineup at quarterback from a leg injury and he completed a pass to Cody Ferguson. The ball was knocked loose and Reyshawn Moore covered it and the Mustangs took over.
The Eagle defense made an immediate impact by forcing a Mustang punt. Fairfield would take the early lead by finishing a long drive. The highlight of the series was a handoff to Kadarius Walker and he broke for daylight and scored on a 42-yard run. Tyler Hayes added the extra point for the 7-0 with 4:29 remaining in the first quarter.
Fairfield drove deep into Mustang territory, but the drive ended with an interception by Jerimiah Gilbert inside the Mustang ten. Madisonville began the drive at their own nine-yard line and took only two minutes off the clock and tied the score. Using the running of Tyrese Brown and Uriel Willis, the Mustangs made quick work of the 91-yard drive. Brown capped the drive with a two-yard power run and the point after tied the score at 7-7 with 5:43 left in the first half.
The Eagles went three plays and were forced to punt on the next possession. Haynes stepped into the rush and the punt was blocked. Moore had his second big play of the night on the block and the Mustangs took over at the Fairfield 28. The drive would stall, and the Mauricio Aceves kicked a 34-yard field for the Mustang lead with just over two minutes remaining in the half.
Fairfield would drive in position to attempt a field goal before the end of the half and got down close enough to score. Gilbert would intercept Rushin in the end zone with 27 seconds remaining to preserve the Mustang lead at the half.
The Eagles defense held the Mustangs on the first possession of the second half and drove down the field. The drive hit a fourth down try and the Eagles took the lead when Rushin hit Blake Posey with a pass up the seam. He cut inside and broke through four tackle attempts and made his way to the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown. The point after gave the Eagles the 14-10 lead midway through the third quarter.
Haynes hit a field goal with just over a minute to go in the third to extend the lead to 17-10 and the Eagles forced a punt and had the ball at the change of quarter. Rushin suffered his third interception of the game when Gilbert ended the Eagle threat to extend the lead.
With 7:58 remaining in the game, Uriel Willis scored on a six-yard run to tie the game and set up the final seven minutes to potentially send the game into overtime.
The teams exchanged possessions and the Madisonville punt was ruled down inside the one-yard line. The Eagles picked up one first down and then punted deep in their own territory. The short punt set the Mustangs up at the Eagle 34-yard line at the final moments were running off the clock.
Madisonville used the running of Brown, Willis and Aaron Nellums and the Mustangs got inside the Eagle 25-yard line and stopped the clock with two seconds remaining. The Fairfield coaching staff burned all of their timeouts and the teams lined up to attempt the 30-yard field goal. Aceves had a good hold and the ball sailed through and the Mustangs got a crucial road district win 20-17.
Conally upset the eighth ranked Lorena Leopards 31-28 and Robinson defeated Salado 27-7 so two of the three teams that won home openers lost in the second week. Madisonville leads the district race by a half game over the Robinson Rockets and Salado and Conally are 1-1. Mexia had the open week and stay at 0-1 and the Eagles are 0-2.
Fairfield plays at Blackcat Field on Friday night and cannot afford to drop a third consecutive district game.
(Sports Photography by Melissa Lee)
