Fairfield Eagles and Lady Eagles had much to be proud of in their final athletic events of their career. The school year finished with the annual Fellowship of Christian Athletes Victory Bowl events in the Waco and Belton areas.
The events began with the inaugural basketball games at West High School. Area athletes competed in a boys and girls’ game, including Fairfield Lady Eagles Jarahle Daniels and Breyunna Dowell.
Kamren Griffin would play later in the boy’s game.
The blue all-stars captured the opening tip and Daniels hit a three pointer from the top of the key to open the scoring. Ellie Erwin from Academy hit three of six free throws for a blue lead. It was short lived and red had a slight 15-12 lead at the end of one and both teams missed several shots in the second and teams were tied at 26-26 at the half.
The Lady Eagles players would take over in the third period and put some distance between the two teams. Dowell and Daniels connected several times down the floor. Many points were scored in transition when the rebound came down and the offense got into motion. Dowell and Daniels combined for 20 of the 24 points scored by the blue all-stars in the third period and the lead stretched out to 50-30.
The lead would remain high double digits and the blue team would hold onto a 66-46 win. Daniels scored 19 points, pulled down eight rebounds and had seven assists and four steals. She was named the games Most Valuable Player. Dowell added 19 points in the win.
Fairfield head coach Sally Whitaker led the Blue All-Stars as their head coach for the event. Diane Konarik assisted on the staff. Erwin added 15 points for the blue team. Samaria Bostick of Copperas Cove scored 16 points to lead the red squad and Kaitlyn Nors of Abbott added 14.
The boy’s game would also become a runaway and the Eagles were well represented. Kamren Griffin began the game on the floor and had an authoritative blocked shot and a couple of rebounds. Griffin had a base line drive and a lay in off the throw in from out of bounds. He scored six points in the first half and the blue team held a 37-32 halftime lead.
Randy Woolf, Jr. had a steal and dunk and the blue team began to pull away. Griffin added 13 points in the second half. He finished the game with 19 points and 11 rebounds and was named the games Most Valuable Player in the 76-59 Blue All-Stars win. Woolf also added 19 points and A.J. Ward from Conally scored 11 points. Kirk Zuehlke of West scored 20 points for the Red All-Stars and the Red was led by Antwone Gonzales of Killeen Shoemaker with 21 points.
The seventh annual baseball and softball games were held at the complex at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton. Kaden Crawford of Fairfield competed for the blue team, coached by Fairfield’s Bill Crawford. He had one at bat and grounded out to the shortstop and pitched a scoreless inning. Chelsie Faughn competed for the blue all-stars and saw action in the outfield.
In the baseball game, it was a 1-0 for the red when the plated a run in the top of the fifth inning. The Blue All-Stars would score two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning when Klay Pursche of Holland tripled to deep right center and Ryne Abel hit a fly ball to center to score the winning run. The softball game ended with a Red 8-4 win.
The 14th annual football game finished the outside events for the weekend and it was an exciting game. Caleb Betts, Dawson Norcross, and Eli Norcross of Wortham High School competed for the Red All-Stars and Hayden Braswell of Fairfield and Luke Stacks of Teague played for the Blue All-Stars. Dawson Norcross saw several carries in the Red offense and Eli Norcross was a receiver and Betts a special team’s contributor. Stacks had a big play on the defensive side of the ball for the Blue team.
Luis Fernandez caught a five-yard touchdown pass to take an early lead for the Blue team. Chad Lorenz of McGregor caught a 26-yard touchdown pass to knot the game at 7-7. Levi Hopper of Blooming Grove ran scored on a two-yard touchdown run to regain the lead that would hold throughout the halftime break. Blue would add to the lead and take a 21-7 lead and the Red team added two second half touchdowns, the first on a 64-yard run by Taylor Long of Hamilton. Robert Goodman scored on a short touchdown run to cap the scoring and seal the 22-21 Red team win.
