The Fairfield Eagles knew the running game was solid, but they did not know that it was solid enough to run over the reigning district champion Lorena 41-21 Friday night at Eagle Field.
The Eagle offense had 73 carries for 628 yards and put three backs over 100 yards, including quarterback Justin Abram with his second time over 300 yards with 378 on 33 carries and three touchdowns. Jar-Mychael Hudson topped 150 yards and freshman Eli Martin had 100 on 23 carries and each back scored a touchdown.
Fairfield began the fireworks early on the first play from scrimmage when Hudson raced up the middle for a 75-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead only 14 seconds into the game.
Lorena matched the score on a big play of their own on a second and long from their 14-yard line. Senior quarterback Bradley Lina tossed a pass to a wide open A.J. Bern and he ran past the Eagle defense for an 86-yard catch and run and Lina added the point after to tie the score at 7-7.
Fairfield went back to work and Martin and Abram led the way on the drive. Abram had a 28-yard run to midfield and on the next play covered the final 50 yards in a hurry with the touchdown and the 14-7 lead.
The Eagle offense had the ground game running but committed three first half turnovers or the game may have been settled much earlier. The Fairfield offense fumbled the ball inside the Lorena 20 and set the Leopards on an 11-play drive and scored on a Lina one-yard run to tie the score at 14-14 with seven minutes remaining in the first half.
The Fairfield offense wasted no time getting back the lead on a five-play drive that covered 59 yards. Abram carried all five times and scored on a 24-yard touchdown run with 5:26 remaining in the first half for the 21-14 lead.
On the kickoff, the Leopard special teams’ unit could not handle the kick and put it on the grown and DeQuann McWilliams recovered and the Eagle offense took the field at the Leopard 18-yard line. It ended with the first of two field goals from Tyler Haynes in the final minutes of the first half for a 27-14 Fairfield lead at halftime.
Lorena took to the aerial attack in the opening drive of the second half. Lina completed three passes on the drive and the advanced to the Eagle ten when Lina was intercepted by Luke Latham at the nine. On the first play of the drive, Abram kept the ball and raced the distance for the 91-yard scored to put the Eagles ahead 34-14.
The final tally for the Eagle offense was a dominating drive that covered 83 yards and used several minutes off the clock and 18 plays. Martin finished the drive with a five-yard run to close out the Eagle offensive night at 41-14.
Lorena added a fourth quarter touchdown but the Eagles had a couple of sacks from Hudson and one from Lex Thompson to seal the win for Fairfield.
The Eagles lead the district after the first week joined by the Waco Conally Cadets with their 28-21 win over Salado, and the Mexia Blackcats and a 37-30 win over Madisonville. The Robinson Rockets were idle in the opening week of district play. Fairfield will take to the road to take on the 0-1 Madisonville Mustangs on Friday night.
(Photos by Melissa Lee)
