FB: Crawfordsville upsets #6 North Montgomery

Crawfordsville High School's first-year head football coach told his players they'd remember Friday night forever.

In
a mud bowl, they took down county, Sagamore Athletic Conference rival
and Class 3A No. 6 North Montgomery with defense and heart.

Crawfordsville's
defense forced county-rival and North Montgomery into five turnovers
and senior running back Craig Fairley rushed for 199 yards and two
touchdowns in a 27-14 home Senior Night victory.

After eight games, the Athenians finally gave Gerold his first win in his first year as head coach.

"This
one was for the seniors," said Gerold, who received a mud bath after
the victory. "I told the team before the game that we were going to run
and that this was going to be a game they would remember the rest of
their lives. We were going to come out here and run the ball and do
everything we can to beat North Montgomery. They are a very dang good
team. It's amazing. I'm ecstatic for the seniors."

Crawfordsville
(1-7, 1-5 SAC) now has a shot to clinch its second county championship
in three years when the Athenians travel to conference rival Southmont
(6-2, 5-1 SAC) next weekend.

It's a game with huge implications.

While Crawfordsville can clinch the county championship, Southmont has a shot at winning its first ever conference title.

Thanks
to the Mounties' 16-13 overtime win over Western Boone and Lebanon's
loss to conference rival Danville, they could clinch the conference
championship outright.

Crawfordsville players lingered on the field to celebrate this win.

Before
running to the post-game huddle, senior offensive/defensive lineman
Jared McKinney slid around in the mud in the middle of the field.

Gerold ran back to the locker room amidst a sea of fans chanting his name.

Caked in mud, Fairley rushed all over the Chargers again.

Two years ago, he totaled nearly 300 yards and four scores in a 33-14 win over North Montgomery.

Friday night, he scored two second-quarter touchdowns to give Crawfordsville a 14-0 lead.

Then, after the Chargers rallied back to tie the game at 14-14 in the third quarter, he made his back-breaking scamper.

On a second-and-12 from the 45-yard line, Fairley looked like he'd get stuck on the right side for a short gain.

Instead, he reversed his field, changed gears and raced 49 yards to the North Montgomery six-yard-line.

Two
plays later, sophomore quarterback Joel Hobson hit sophomore wide
receiver Caleb Rasmussen on a nine-yard touchdown pass in the back left
corner of the end zone.

That gave the Athenians a 21-14 lead and the confidence boost they needed to pull out the game.

"We
have a lot of momentum going into our next game," Fairley said. "But I
tell you what, we're not satisfied until we win county."

Crawfordsville
outgained North Montgomery on the ground (227-175 yards) and in total
yards (266-225) and nearly did the same through the air.

That left Chargers' coach Charley German frustrated, especially since they could have clinched the county title themselves.

"Our
defense played way too many plays in the first half and we gave them
way too many turnovers," he said. "I thought the third quarter is like
we should have played the whole game. We were inspired and played good
defense. I don't know why we didn't."

The Athenians' defense also forced North Montgomery junior quarterback Clayton Dale into his worst game this season.

Dale completed just two of 13 passes for 50 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. He also fumbled and lost two snaps.

Crawfordsville junior defensive lineman Chris Hammond wreaked havoc in the backfield.

He
intercepted and returned a pass inside the Chargers' 15-yard line that
set up the Athenians' first score and also had two fumble recoveries.

"We
went out the whole night to get the ball and were thinking quarterback,
quarterback, quarterback," Hammond said. "It's the greatest feeling in
the world. To do it on Senior Night, it's all about the seniors."