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The Paper photo by Lori Poteet
Athenians’ junior Craig Fairley rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns in Friday’s win. |
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| Football
Friday
At Crawfordsville
Crawfordsville 27, Western Boone 20
Western Boone 14 0 6 0 – 20
Crawfordsville 7 7 13 0 – 27
Scoring
First
quarter: WB – Jared Knox 1 run (Jeremy Trent kick), 6:58; C – Craig
Fairley 28 run (Matt Mummert kick), 6:36; WB – Jared Knox 2 pass to
Eric Biesecker (Jeremy Trout kick), 2:17
Second quarter: C – Craig Fairley 1 run (Matt Mummert kick), 2:12
Third
quarter: C – Craig Fairley 9 run (Matt Mummert kick), 10:10; WB – Aaron
Hiland 85 kickoff return (kick blocked), 9:54; C – Brett McKinney 4
pass to Jordan Boykin (kick missed), 5:26
Team statistics WB C
First downs 10 18
Rushes (yds.) 29-130 39-255
Passing 13-22-96-1-2 11-20-119-1-0
Total yards 226 384
Fumbles (lost) 1-1 1-0
Penalties (yds.) 7-45 6-20
Records: Crawfordsville 3-1 (3-0 SAC), Western Boone 1-3 (0-2 SAC)
Individual statistics
Rushing:
Western Boone – Aaron Hiland 10-69, Josh Debard 11-36, Jared Knox 5-25.
Crawfordsville – Craig Fairley 25-184, Nick Baker 4-45, Brett McKinney
8-26.
Passing: Western Boone – Jared Knox 13-22-96-1-2. Crawfordsville – Brett McKinney 11-20-119-1-0.
Receiving:
Western Boone – Todd Morton 4-40, Ryan Knox 3-30, Eric Biesecker 3-17,
Jeremy Trent 2-6, Aaron Cragun 1-3. Crawfordsville – Brett Linn 4-50,
Jordan Boykin 5-45, Steven Rice 1-13, Jacob Corbin 1-11.
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Reprinted Courtesy of:
The Paper of Montgomery County
www.thepaper24-7.com
By John Groth
Sports Editor
There wasn’t much for Rex Ryker to be particularly pleased about.
Crawfordsville High School’s football coach had hoped the Athenians would be in prime form for their home-opener Friday night.
They’d played their first three games on the road. But it looked like they’re still not comfortable at home just yet.
At least they’re still undefeated in Sagamore Athletic Conference play.
Junior
running back Craig Fairley rushed for 184 yards and three touchdowns
and senior quarterback Brett McKinney threw the game-clinching
fourth-down four-yard pass to Jordan Boykin in the fourth quarter in
Crawfordsville’s 27-20 win over conference rival Western Boone.
“It
takes teams a little while to adjust to (Craig’s) speed,” Ryker said.
“Western Boone had a good gameplan. The last two weeks we’ve had
moments of inconsistency in our passing. If teams put nine (players) in
the box, we have to be more (consistent) in our passing. But we got it
done.”
Crawfordsville (3-1, 3-0 SAC) kept its undefeated conference record intact – but not by much.
The
Athenians needed a strong first-half rushing attack from Fairley, a
second-half resurgence from McKinney and three key second-half
defensive plays – including a blocked extra point attempt by McKinney
and an interception by senior Brett Linn – to pull out the victory.
For the first time all season, a conference opponent held Fairley under 200 yards rushing.
But that’s not to say he still didn’t have another strong game.
Fairley
dominated the first half – rushing for 151 of his 184 yards in the
first two quarters. He had his longest run, a 54-yard scamper keyed by
a Boykin block, and scored two of his three touchdowns – including a
28-yard score – in the first half.
His first touchdown tied the
game at 7-7 and then his second score – a one-yard run to the right
side – tied the game at 14-14 with 2:12 left before halftime.
But Western Boone (1-3, 0-2 SAC) slowed him down in the second half with a better defensive scheme.
The Stars put eight and nine people in the box and stuffed the Athenians at the line.
Fairley
had only 33 yards on 10 carries in the second half, including a
nine-yard score that gave them a 21-20 lead. Crawfordsville was also
missing senior offensive lineman Brandon Wise for the second half. He
suffered an injury late in the second quarter and did not return.
“Sometimes
when Craig doesn’t break it for 20 yards, we feel like something in our
running game is wrong,” Ryker said. “Teams are going to stop him
occasionally and we need to try to get it done.”
While Fairley had a tough time gaining yards in the second half, McKinney finally found his range and some confidence.
After
going 3-of-9 for 37 yards in the first half along with overthrowing a
couple of receivers, he recovered and found a rhythm in the pocket.
He went 8-for-11 in the second half, throwing for 82 yards and the touchdown to Boykin to seal the game.
After
missing on two fourth-down conversions earlier in the game, Ryker went
for another with less than six minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Crawfordsville
faced a fourth-and-goal from the Stars’ 4-yard-line. McKinney scrambled
around and found Boykin for a touchdown, giving Crawfordsville a 27-20
lead.
“In the first half, I had good protection passing-wise,”
McKinney said. “(In the second half), it was just me being more
patient. I felt more relaxed and didn’t feel as pressured.”
Western
Boone had two more chances in the final six minutes – but
Crawfordsville’s defense stopped the Stars on two fourth downs.
Linn intercepted sophomore quarterback Jared Knox’s pass on fourth down with less than six minutes remaining.
Then,
with a minute remaining and fourth-and-seven from their own
40-yard-line, Knox chased down a snap that went over his head and threw
a pass deep downfield, which Athenians’ senior cornerback Josh Rager
knocked down.
Crawfordsville kept Western Boone the
fleet-footed Knox in check – for the most part. He rushed for 69 yards
on 10 carries, threw for 96 yards and had two touchdowns (one rushing,
one throwing). But he didn’t beat them with a long rush or pass.
“We
did give up a lot of yards and they scored more than we wanted them to.
We were hoping for a shutout,” Linn said. “But we won the game and
you’ve got to be happy about that.” |
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