Making a dive for a successful catch is Fairfield Eagle #7, Cody Ferguson, in last Friday’s game against the Athens Hornets.
The Fairfield Eagles put 41 points on the board in the first half and another stingy second half on defense for a 55-28 win over the Athens Hornets and a perfect 3-0 on the young season.
Fairfield had their first game on the road after two home wins over Rusk and Brownsboro. The visiting stadium at Bruce Field proved to be a nice setting for a big offensive shootout for the Eagle offense.
Blake Posey led the Eagles in rushing with 123 yards on only 14 carries and three touchdowns and he passed for 193 yards and one more touchdown. Kadarius Walker added three first half touchdowns in his nine carries of work totaling 84 yards.
Fairfield took the opening kickoff and went straight to the no huddle offense and quickly scored. Walker and Posey worked the offense inside the Hornet 20-yard line. Posey ran the read option to perfection with a 19-yard run for the first points of the game. The extra point was good, and the Eagles led 7-0 just a bit more than a minute and a half into the contest.
The Fairfield defense showed a spark early with a turnover on downs. The Eagle front seven stopped Jerquindon Taylor short of a first down just past midfield and the Eagle offense took over. On first down, Posey stood in the pocket and hit DaQuann McWilliams across the deep middle for a 56-yard strike and a two-touchdown lead. The try for two was good the Eagles jumped out to a 15-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Athens ended the first quarter driving the ball into Eagle territory. Taylor and Nathan Sims worked the Hornet offense inside the thirty, converting on fourth down once. They could not convert a second time and the Eagles stopped them on the 14-yard line and sent the offense back to work.
Jar-Mychael Hudson carried the Eagles out of the shadow of their own end zone with a couple of carries. Later in the drive, Posey tossed a pass to a diving Walker for a first down inside the Hornet thirty. Walker would be called on to complete the drive with a 21-yard burst up the middle for the scored and the Eagles took a commanding 21-0 lead.
The Hornets began a scoring onslaught over the next clock minute. Sims took the handoff on the third play of the drive and outran the Eagle defense for the Hornet first points of the game. The point after was no good and the Eagle led was 21-6 with 6:58 remaining in the first half.
It only took 31 seconds for the Eagles to answer. On the first play of the drive, Posey broke loose for a 57-yard run to the Hornet 16. Walker took the ball on the second play and tallied his second score of the night and extended the lead. Posey ran for the conversion and the lead swelled to 29-6.
On the next play from scrimmage, the Hornets hit another big play. Fairfield has given up some big plays in the first three games and the game on the road proved to be another big night against the Eagle defense. Taylor ran the jet sweep to perfection for a 63-yard touchdown and Andrew McBride added the conversion run to the corner pylon and trailed the Eagles 29-14. It was the third touchdown in a total of 41 seconds on the game clock.
Fairfield did add to the lead, but the offense took a little time off the clock. Posey completed two of his three passes and Walker capped the drive with a nine-yard run, his third of the first half Jase Oliver saw some time in the Eagle backfield as one of the six running backs used by the Fairfield offense. He had four carries into Hornet territory on the next drive and Posey added his second touchdown of the night on a three-yard run and the 41-14 lead with 37 seconds remaining in the half.
Athens would add one more on the third big scoring play. Taylor matched his 63-yard touchdown run with another in the final seconds of the first half and cut the lead to 41-21 at the half.
The Hornets took the ball to begin the second half and took nine plays to cut into the Eagle lead. Mixing the run with Sims and Taylor, the final play of the night was a four-yard run by Sims for the score and cut the lead to 41-28. It would be the last points of the night for the Hornets.
Before the end of the third quarter, the Eagles would add two more scores. Posey added his third touchdown of the night on a one yard run midway through the quarter and Hudson scored on a seven-yard run in the final minute of the quarter.
Fairfield has dominated with offense and the defense has given up 28 points in each of the first three games. They return to the road on Friday when they renew their rivalry with their neighbor to the east, the Palestine Wildcats.
(Sports Photography by Melissa Lee)
