Prep Football: Hampton: Best Game I've Ever Coached In
Two of the top teams in the Black Diamond stood toe-to-toe Friday night at the Train Yard and traded body blow after body blow, but neither were unable to come up with a knockout shot.
Instead, Fairfield and Eldorado went the distance, and then some, with the final scorecard showing the Eagles victorious over the Mules, 60-58, in overtime.
"That was the best football game I have ever coached in," Hampton told Townsend as they shook hands after the dust settled.
"I am so proud of these guys efforts," Hampton said. "I was impressed with their resiliency and not wavering on the road in the face of adversity. So many of our guys, Nathan Burnett, Logan Kanady, Payton Price, Braxton Roberts, Dillon Parker, had great individual efforts, but this was a team win in the truest of forms."
Eldorado's win gives them a tie atop the Black Diamond at 5-1, along with the Mules, Chester and Johnston City, setting up another wild finish for the BDC crown. Those first three schools went into week nine with a shot at the title last year.
"We knew they had a good football team. They were finally healthy. They really had not been healthy since week two. The finally got Braxton Roberts back going," Fairfield head coach Justin Townsend said.
Defense and punting were rarely seen as nine different players scored 16 total touchdowns.
In the overtime session, Fairfield won the toss, giving the Eagles the ball. Hampton dialed up Woolcott for a four-yard run and then Roberts for five. On third down, the Mules stopped Roberts for no gain. Hampton went right back to him, and again the Mules hit him in the backfield, but the senior thumper got in on second effort. The Eagles went with speed on the two-point play, and Price sprinted in for an eight-point lead
The Mules started with a one-yard plunge from Esmon, and then got six from Davis. Esmon lost a yard to set up fourth down. Land ran wide right, drawing contact at the two as he reached for the end zone. The ball crossed the goal line, but after his knee was ruled down, but with a facemask penalty to give Fairfield another fourth down. Davis took advantage, scoring from one yard out when he got stood up but reached the ball across for the score.
The Mules went to their leading rusher on the two-point play, but the Eagles had Land keyed and came up with the game-winning stop on a gang tackle.
The Mules racked up 31 first downs and 492 rushing yards in the loss, while Eldorado made big plays on both sides of the ball and in special teams to counter.
The biggest defensive play came on a two-point attempt, as Eldorado swarmed Fairfield junior Colton Land to stop him a yard short and preserve the overtime win.
"I did not think they could stop us, and I was concerned about being able to stop them. I did not think it would go to this extreme though," Townsend said.
The offensive fireworks started early, as Fairfield senior Devon Davis took the fourth play of the game and went to the house for 61 yards and an 8-0 lead.
But the Fairfield miscues also started early. On their first kickoff attempt, they were whistled offsides on a kick they executed just they way they planned, angling to the sideline.
On the rekick, Eldorado senior Logan Kanady made the mistake costly with a 72-yard score, going in untouched.
Most of the remainder of the first half then turned into both squadronstrading extended scoring drives.
Fairfield got a 43-yard kickoff return by Bryce Maguire to set up a 10-play, 41-yard drive capped off by an eight-yard score by Land.
Eldorado answered with a seven-play, 60-yard drive, led by four carries by Roberts, a load at fullback.
It was Drew Woolcotthowever who found pay dirt with an eight-yard scamper on the edge.
Fairfield scored on the first play of the second quarter, getting a five-yard score from sophomore speedster Wyatt Borah, finishing off a nine-play, 53-yard possession.
The Eagles answered with another scoring drive, taking advantage of a Mules' offside penalty on a third-and-five to score three plays later on a 15-yard romp by Braxton.
Fairfield scored less than five minutes later, getting a one-yard touchdown run by Devon Davis with 1:52 to play in the half following a nine-yardkickoff by the Eagles to set up a short field.
Eldorado was the first offense to falter, although it came deep in Mule territory. Woolcott had a 38-yard run and the Eagles got the Fairfield seven when middle linebacker Micah Hall forced a fumble and senior Orry Boles came up the recovery.
It would prove to be costly for the Mules, however. After Land ripped off a 35-yard run to the Eagle 41, Fairfield tried to go to the air. With 10 seconds left, Koker was hit as he threw and Payton Price picked him off, racing 64 yards to score as the siren sounded for half. They added the two-point conversion for a 30-28 lead at halftime.
The break did not help either defense, as the slugfest continued in the second half.
Eldorado took the kickoff and marched 81 yards for another score, mixing in inside runs from Roberts and edge runs from the speedsters in Woolcott and Price. They converted a fourth-and-one with an outside pitch to Woolcott, and then converted a third-and-13 when Nathan Burnett's pass slipped through Borah's hands and into Kanady's. Woolcott scored from 12 yards out on the next play for a 38-28 lead.
Fairfield stuck to the ground for their answer, running six times, including a 37-yarder from Land plus a late hit penalty to set up a five-yard touchdown from Land and the two-point conversion to pull the Mules back within two with 3:15 left in the third.
It took Eldorado 59 seconds to get on the board again as Burnett hit tight end Max Kasiar behind the Mules' secondary for a 75-yard touchdown throw to go up 10 after the conversion.
The Mules turned the ball over for the second time three plays later, on another ill advised throw from Koker as he backhanded a wobbler to Eldorado linebacker Trey Vessel.
The Eagles again capitalized, scoringnine plays later on a four-yard run by Roberts for a 16-point lead with 10:28 left in the fourth.
With their backs against the wall, the Mules fought back, and used a hurry-up offense to run off 12 plays in less than four minutes. Borah had the big run on the drive, breaking tackles down the Eagles' sideline for 23 yards. Fullback Scott Esmon scored two plays later from a yard out, with 6:37 to play. Land got the two-point conversion to make it an eight-point game.
The Mules onsided the kick and senior Connor Scott came up with the loose ball, but the officials awarded Eldorado the ball before checking the pile up. The Eagles killed more than two minutes before turning the ball over on downs for just their second scoreless possession of the game.
Davis, who hit a momentum switcher against Carmi the week before, hit a 43-yard run to put the Mules right back in it, while Land ran in the score from 10 yards out and the two-point as well for a tie at 52.
After running roughshod for most of the game, the Eagles were unable to convert a first down on the second straight possession, and with 1:19 left, gave the game its first punt, giving Fairfield the ball on their own 26.
Esmon had a 26-yard run and the Mules were able to run 11 plays in the final 80 seconds, using two timeouts, getting out of bounds and spiking it twice. It all set up a 25-yard heave at the buzzer, as Koker tried to find tight end Sky Kollak, but Christian Dalton came up with Eldorado's third interception of the game to force overtime.
Land finished with 210 yards rushing on 36 carries in the loss, giving him 862 yards in five games. Davis added 157 yards on 15 carries, Esmon had 89 and Borah had 36 for a season-high 492 total rushing yards. The Mules came in averaging 390 rushing yards a game.
Roberts led the Eagles with 131 rushing yards on 25 carries, while Woolcott added 61 on nine carries. Burnett finished 4-for-6 passing with 121 yards. Kanady had three catches for 46 yards, while Kasiar finished with the 75-yard touchdown reception.
Fairfield will travel to Sesser-Valier and Eldorado will host Johnston CityFriday.
Eldorado (5-1) 14 16 16 6 8 - 60
Fairfield (5-1) 14 14 8 16 6 - 58
SCORING PLAYS
First Quarter
F- Devon Davis 61-yard run (Colton Land run), 10:28
E- Logan Kanady 72-yard kickoff return (Nathan Burnett pass to Kanady), 10:17
F- Land 8-yard run (run failed), 6:12
E- Drew Woolcott 8-yard run (pass failed)
Second Quarter
F- Wyatt Borah 5-yard run (pass failed), 11:54
E- Braxton Roberts 15-yard run (Woolcott run), 6:13
F- Davis 1-yard run (Davis run), 1:52
E- Payton Price 64-yard interception return (Burnett pass to Max Kasiar), :00
Third Quarter
E- Price 12-yard run (Kanady run), 6:08
F- Land 6-yard run (Land run), 4:14
E- Burnett 75-yard pass to Kasiar (Price run), 3:15
Fourth Quarter
E- Roberts 3-yard run (run failed), 10:28
F- Scott Esmon 1-yard run (Land run), 6:37
F- Land 10-yard run (Land run), 3:34
Overtime
E- Roberts 1-yard run (Price run)
F- Davis 1-yard run (run failed)
TEAM STATISTICS
F E
31 First downs 18
70-492 Rushes 48-264
1-6-3 Pass-Att.-Int. 4-6-0
15 Passing yards 121
507 Total Offense 385
0 Punts 1-30
1-0 Fumbles-lost 2-1
3 Turnovers 1
3-15 Penalties 3-23
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING
F -Land 36-210, Davis 16-157, Esmon 15-89, Borah 3-36. E-Roberts 25-131, Woolcott 9-61, Price 10-46, Burnett 4-26.
PASSING
F- Collin Koker 1-6-15 (0 Td, 3 Int) E - Burnett 4-6-121 (1 TD, 0 Int).
RECEIVING
F -Davis 1-15. E- Kasiar 1-75, Kanady 3-46.