FOOTBALL: Fairfield pulls away from Elverado-Trico 42-8

ELKVILLE, IL - After their week one game with C-Z-R was cancelled, Elverado-Trico still hadn't gotten their first-week jitters out of their system in time for Thursday's home game with Fairfield.

The Mules took advantage, sprinting to a 42-0 lead and a continuous clock in the third quarter before the Falcons got a late touchdown on a carry by Kenny Loos to salvage a 42-8 defeat.

The first sign of nerves on the Falcons' side showed up after Fairfield scored on their opening drive, then recovered a live ball on the ensuing kickoff to steal possession away from E-T before the first-team offense ever took the field.

"If we could have played in the first week like we wanted to, we would have gotten the opportunity to fix these problems the first week," said Falcons' head coach Zach Schumacher. "We're going to learn from this, we'll be better next week."

Dyllan Bailey, who topped 200 yards in Fairfield's week one victory, again looked dominating on Thursday. Bailey's 142 yards on the ground and three touchdowns led the way for the Mules, who as a team rushed for 286 yards against the Falcons.

"We broke containment a lot," Schumacher said of his defense. "A lot of jitters by our defensive backs. We came out in a 4-3 defensive front, then we switched to what we call a bump when we go to a 5-3. That seemed to work up the middle, but then outside it'd be a defensive end or a corner, somebody would break containment."

"A lot of times tonight we had ten guys doing the right thing, and one wouldn't. It's not the same guy every time. The mark of a good team is eleven guys all the time, so we've got a long way to go."

One of the bright spots for Elverado-Trico besides Loos' touchdown run was a solid performance by fullback Brian McClanahan who rushed for 96 yards on 17 carries and took in the two-point conversion after Loos scored the TD.

"(McClanahan is) one of the best defensive tackles we've got, and offensively he's our leader," said Schumacher. "He's earned it, he's showed up and worked out, he's everything you want in a kid. I couldn't ask for any more out of him."

Loos finished with 30 yards on 7 carries for E-T, Brendan Garcia carried 6 times for 2 yards, and quarterback Kyle Whittington was shown for a single rushing attempt for 1 yard.

The 42 points were the fewest scored by Fairfield against Elverado-Trico since 2006.

The Falcons are at home again in week three when they meet Eldorado on Friday, September 7.