By Mike McGraw
Executive Director
DANVILLE – Whether it was offensive perfection or defensive collapse is a matter of perspective. However, one thing is a fact. Crawfordsville’s Class 3A Sagamore Conference attack at No. 15 Danville Aug. 29 was devastatingly swift and deadly.
The Athenians scored on their second play from scrimmage. After four offensive plays, they had scored twice. Still not impressed? Try this one on for size. After nine offensive plays, Crawfordsville had scored three times!
It all added up to a first quarter that Crawfordsville fans will long remember – and Danville fans will spend a long time trying to forget.
Superman made an appearance at the game in the form of Crawfordsville running back Craig Fairley. The first time Fairley touched the ball, he scampered 69 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Crawfordsville lead. Evidently not satisfied with the scope of that effort, the second time Fairley touched the pigskin he sprinted 82 yards for another score and a 14-0 Athenian margin.
That’s 151 yards in two carries – not a bad start on any night. (Fairley, who finished with 22 carries for 247 yards, spoke with Hoosier Authority after the game – his comments can be seen by clicking here!).
The onslaught continued the third time Crawfordsville gained possession. Five plays into the Athenians’ drive, Brett McKinney hit Brett Linn for a 45-yard touchdown pass and it was 21-0.
Not to be outdone, the Athenian defense contributed to the early devastation by intercepting Danville on each of the Warriors’ first two possessions. At the end of the first period it was 21-0, and the shock was in full force for the large Danville crowd.
Crawfordsville, however, was not through yet. On the Athenians’ fourth stint with the ball, McKinney hit Jordan Boykin with an eight-yard fade route for yet another touchdown.
With 7:04 left in the first half, it was 28-0 Crawfordsville.
The hosts finally settled down and forged a drive that resulted in a one-yard touchdown plunge by quarterback Trent Schaffer to put Danville on the board. The only bad part of that drive was that the Warriors left too much time on the clock.
Crawfordsville needed less than two minutes to strike again. This time McKinney hit Linn with a bubble screen that went 51 yards for a 35-6 halftime lead.
Linn was another incredible story for the Athenians. The senior was playing sick, yet he managed not only to score two touchdowns on the night but also intercept Schaffer and the Warriors three times.
The other question of the evening is whether Danville righted the ship at halftime, or whether Crawfordsville lost some of its edge during intermission.
The third period saw Danville mount a sustained drive, and another one-yard dive by Schaffer cut the lead to 35-14. The drive was aided by several careless Athenian penalties.
Twice in the second half, the Athenians mounted sustained drives of its own. But all they came away with to show for the effort was a 28-yard field goal that pushed the lead to 38-14 early in the fourth quarter.
Danville scored with just over a minute to play on a pass from Schaffer to Justin Gillespie to make the final margin 38-20.
The second half gave the young Warriors something to build on for the rest of the Sagamore schedule. They’ll get their next chance Sept. 5 at Western Boone (1-1), a 28-19 Week 2 upset winner over Clinton Central.
On the other hand, Crawfordsville took center stage in the conference title hunt. The Athenians look to go 2-0 in conference play next Friday at Frankfort (0-2), a 23-7 Week 2 victim of Twin Lakes.
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