Friday Night Lights: Fairfield Steamrolls in E-T with Strong Final Half
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[After scoring on their first two offensive plays, the Fairfield Mules stagnated on offense, struggling with their shotgun snaps and led just 19-6 at halftime over visiting Elverado Friday night. Scrapping the shotgun and going old-school T-formation for most of the second half, the Mules put up 28 more points for a running-clock, 47-6 win in the season opener.
Elverado was coming off a winless 2008, and a one-win 2007, last in the Black Diamond Conference both years. They had just 20 players on their roster Friday, 10 of which were sophomores. While the Mules won by 41, it was not an inspiring win.
Fairfield did eventually rack up some stat sheet numbersó324 yards rushing, a touchdown pass from Andrew Atteberry and 149 total yards allowed.
Junior Cameron Williams ran 68 yards for a score on the Mulesí first offensive play, then Atteberry scrambled 36 yards for another score for a 13-0 lead three minutes into the game.
In between Elverado had the ball just two plays. Senior defensive tackle Caleb Smith stopped Kyle Easton after a three-yard run, then forced a fumble that fell into the hands of fellow defensive tackle Tim Moore.
Elverado fumbled away the next kickoff and it looked like a rout was on early, but the Mules offense began to stumble. A bad snap led to a forced pitch and Elverado got the ball back.
The Falcons drove the ball down to a first-and-goal on the seven but three penalties and a sack by C. Smith drove them back to the 24, where the Mules took over on downs.
The Mules had four bad snaps and five penalties on their next possession and a block in the back called back a 52-yard touchdown run by Matthew Brown.
The Falcons held the ball for much of the second quarter, and punched in a nine-yard touchdown by Randy Goetz to cap off a seven-play, 30-yard drive. The field position came after another bad snap led to a 16-yard loss before a 19-yard punt.
After having their lead cut to a score just before halftime, the Mules responded by going under center and moving 74 yards in 1:12 to score with six second left in the half for a 19-6 halftime advantage. The touchdown came on a three-yard jump pass from Atteberry to Tim Moore. On the drive, M. Brown had runs of 21 and eight yards, and Williams had a 22-yard run and a 21-yard reception.
Fairfield stayed in the T-formation in the third quarter, and scored on three straight possessions, including a pair of long runs from M. Brown. After having the 52-yard score called back in the second quarter, he had scoring runs of 45 and 43 in the third frame. Sandwiched in between the two M. Brown scores was a 30-yard scamper by fullback Jordan Griffith.
Griffith's touchdown was set up by a forced fumble and recovery by Yarnell when he stripped the ball away from Easton.
Fairfield's final score came with 10:08 left in the game when Jordan Brown took a punt back 70 yards for a score to force the running clock.
M. Brown, who ran for 206 yards against Elverado last year, ran for 143 and two scores this year. Williams finished with 96 yards on just four carries. Griffith finished with 49 yards on five carries.
Atteberry had 85 yards running on six carries, but lost 45, due mostly to the bad snaps, on another five.
Atteberry was 2-for-4 through the air, with a 21-yard completion to Williams and the three-yard score to T. Moore.
Easton ran for 44 yards on 15 carries. Goetz finished with 41 yards on 4 carries and had their lone touchdown. They finished with 98 yards rushing.
Sophomore Alex McGill was 3-of-7 passing for 51 yards. Herby Sandlin had two catches for 31 yards and Easton had one for 20 yards.
C. Smith started out a man possessed, making a tackle on the first five plays Elveradoís offense ran, and finished with six solo tackles, three assists, two sacks, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
Fairfield (1-0) will host conference newcomer Vienna Friday. Elverado (0-1) is at Eldorado Friday.
(reprinted with permission)
Fairfield 47, E-T 6
(0-1, 0-1) Elverado 0 6 0 0 6
(1-0, 1-0) Fairfield 13 6 22 6 47
SCORING PLAYS
First Quarter
F- Cameron Williams 68 run (Hunter Bryan kick no good), 9:57
F- Andrew Atteberry 36 run (Bryan kick good), 9:01
Second Quarter
E- Randy Goetz 9 run (Herby Sandlin kick no good), 1:23
F- Tim Moore 3 pass from Atteberry (pass failed), :0.6
Third Quarter
F- Matthew Brown 45 run (T. Moore from Atteberry), 9:22
F- Jordan Griffith 30 run (Bryan kick failed), 6:57
F- M. Brown 43 run (M. Brown run), :34
Fourth Quarter
F- Jordan Brown 70 punt return (Bryan kick failed), 10:08
F E
10 First downs 6
36-324 Rushes 37-98
2-4-0 Pass-Att.-Int. 3-9-0
24 Passing yards 51
348 Total Offense 149
2-41 Punts 2-58
1-1 Fumbles-lost 4-3
1 Turnovers 3
8-55 Penalties 8-50
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING
F-M. Brown 10-143, Williams 4-96, Griffith 5-49, Atteberry 11-40, Josh Smith 1-7, Kyle Wells 2-6, Henry Simmers 1-(-1), Kyle Thomason 1-2
E -T:
Kyle Easton 15-44, Goetz 4-41, Herby Sandlin 3-8, Dalton Porter 3-6, Wade Bowlin 1-6, Alex McGill 11-(-7).
PASSING
F- Atteberry 2-4-24 (1 TD, 0 Int)
E-McGill 3-7-51 (0 TD, 0 Int), Bowlin 0-2-0 (0 TD, 0 Int)
RECEIVING
F -Williams 1-21, T. Moore 1-3
E -Sandlin 2-31, Easton 1-20
TACKLES (solo-assists)
F ñ Caleb Smith 6-3, J. Smith 5-2, Cody Yarnell 4-5, T. Moore 4-1, John Reynolds 4-0, Atteberry 3-0, Hunter Bryan 2-0, Mick Merkel 2-0, J. Brown 1-1, Dylan Sarles 1-0, Williams 1-0, Shelby Esmon 1-2, Luke Townsend 1-2, Blake Powell 1-0, Cory Scott 1-0, Austin Moore 0-2.
Sacks-F- C. Smith 2, T. Moore 2, J. Smith 1.