The Fairfield Eagles hosted the Mexia Blackcats in the home opener and the Blackcats pulled away in the second half of the 37-23 win. Mexia has split their first two games, and the Eagles drop to 0-2 on the young season.
The two teams agreed to play a non-district game when it was assumed they would not be aligned in the same district as in the past two years. Both teams and coaches know each other and the matchup makes sense in the schedule.
Mexia took the ball on the first drive and worked their way downfield. Steven Milus was seeing his first action of the season and put some heat on the Eagle defense. He took a short pass from quarterback Braden Wilson and Milus turned it into a 46-yard touchdown. He raced up the hashmark to put the Blackcats ahead 6-0 after the missed extra point.
The Eagles answered on their first possession and moved downfield. Junior quarterback Kohl Collins completed an 18-yard pass to Finn Smith to midfield and another for 22 yards inside the Blackcat ten. The Mexia defense stiffened, and Kieran King came on and split the uprights with a 25-yard field goal cutting the Mexia lead in half at 6-3 with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Mexia extended the lead on the second odd play in special teams for the week for Fairfield. Collins mishit his punt, and it bounced behind the line of scrimmage. Kyren Dunn scooped it up and raced across the goal line for the 21-yard punt return touchdown. Brian Maxwell tacked on the extra point for the 13-3 Blackcat lead.
The teams exchanged a couple of possessions and late in the first half, the Fairfield defense forced a Micah Kirven fumble and Kavion Hicks got the recovery near midfield. The Eagle offense used nine plays to go those 45 yards and Collins called his own number with the six-yard touchdown run with 1:04 remaining in the half. King added the point after, and Fairfield cut the lead to 13-10 at the halftime break.
The Eagles took the field for the opening drive of the second half and used five minutes of the third quarter clock. Collins passed to Jaylon Shed for 15 yards to midfield and needed a clutch catch from Connor Colvert on a fourth down at the Blackcat 40. On second down from the Mexia 15, Collins connected with Cal Wilson across the middle for the touchdown. King’s extra point put the Eagles in the lead 17-13 with 7:14 remaining in the third quarter.
Mexia needed only four plays to answer and regain the lead. Milus ripped off a 35-yard run on the first play of the drive and Jacques Cooper added an 11-yard run on the next play. Kirven took the handoff and used his speed to score a 19-yard touchdown run. Cooper added the conversion run and the Blackcats led 21-17.
The Eagles stalled on their next drive after converting on a third down and the Blackcats took over at midfield. Mexia established running game dominance using seven plays, all on the ground with Milus, Cooper and Kirven. Cooper got away in the open field on a 27-yard touchdown run and Milus added the conversion and Mexia increased the lead back to double digits at 29-17.
Fairfield had a mishap with a snap and suffered a big loss and had to punt. Collins hit the punt perfectly and it was downed at the Blackcat four-yard line.
Mexia used their big play offense and made quick work of bad field position. Kirven ran out of the shadow of the end zone for 33 yards and Cooper made the last 56 yards on a touchdown run and put the lead at 37-17 after Milus ran in the conversion.
The Eagles moved quickly and put the points back on the board with a 55-yard connection with Colvert and a 13-yard strike for the score. The point after was no good and the Eagles cut the lead to 37-23, which would be the final score.
Mexia returns home to host the Gatesville Hornets and Fairfield will host the Brownsboro Bears for Homecoming 2024. Grab a Freestone County Times for all homecoming events and info, or click here.
(Photos by Natalia V. Marsters)
