Eldorado falls to 8-0 Fairfield in epic battle
Muhammed Ali vs. Joe Frazier.
Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns.
Floyd Mayweather vs. Connor McGreggor.
All great fights.
Now you can add Eldorado vs. Fairfield to that list.
The two Black Diamond Conference heavyweights duked it out with a ground-and-pound run game Friday night at Boz Adams, but it was the Mules who kicked and punched their way to a 14-8 win to stay undefeated in league play.
The win puts Fairfield at 8-0, a mark they haven't had since 1994. It also sets up a BDC showdown for the conference title Friday at home against Sesser-Valier-Waltonville-Woodlawn, who is also 8-0.
Eldorado (6-2) suffered its first loss since Week 3, against the Red Devils and lost at home for the first time since a 34-14 loss to Maroa-Forsyth in the second round of the last year's IHSA Class 2A playoffs.
The game was everything first year head coach Joe Clark thought it would be, despite the Eagles not coming away with the win.
"Both defenses were so good," Clark said. "Coach speak, you know, it came down to five or six plays. Obviously, I've looked at zero film, they made them - both from a coaching standpoint and a player standpoint and we didn't and that was the difference in the game."
The Eagles struck first, capitalizing off a Fairfield fumble, when Dawson Metten put the Eagles on the board with 3:00 to play in the first quarter and after Eagles QB Kale Oglesby hooked up with Wayne Roberts, Eldorado led 8-0.
Fairfield responded with a Lance Jolly 2-yard run with 9:10 to play in the second and the Mules' Reese Lee punched in the two-point conversion to knot the score at 8.
After halftime, where Eldorado kicked off to Fairfield, the Eagles recovered a forced fumble on the Mules' first play from scrimmage, but were unable to convert the drive after SIU commit and EHS senior Jacob Traxler was stopped at the five-yard line on a fourth-and-two from the six-yard line.
From there, Fairfield used a 19-play, 95-yard drive where Jolly scored the go-ahead TD with 8:51 to play and virtually seal the deal for the Mules.
Eldorado had an opportunity, taking over at their own 25-yard line with under nine to play and following a pair of runs from Traxler and Metten, which got the Eagles to the Mules' 49-yard line, EHS struggled to sustain the drive and turned the ball over on downs with 5:01 to go.
"Im just big time proud of everything we accomplished," Clark said afterwards. "Minus just not being able to capitalize on a few of their mistakes, which would have helped us. Our kids are amazing and they continue to fight under very challenging circumstances in a variety of ways and I'm proud to coach them."
The win also snaps a four-game losing streak Fairfield had against Eldorado. It's the Mules' first win since they knocked off the Eagles 30-28 in 2012. Fairfield now leads the series 8-7, which dates back to 2003.
Eldorado will put the finishing touches on a regular season when they travel to Johnston City.
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Register, Eldorado Journal & The Gallatin County Democrat. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.