The Fayette defense came up with a goal-line stop as the seconds ticked off the clock at the end of the fourth quarter to win 21-18 over Lewis & Clark Conference rival Westran at home Friday night. 

Up by three points with 46.6 seconds left, the Falcons were forced to defend their endzone from a brutal Westran rushing game from the 4-yard line. Westran set up the goal-line attack with a pass to 6’6-255 senior tight end Landen Kitchen. The Hornets, out of timeouts, spiked the ball to stop the clock.

That pass play almost turned the tide, but Fayette senior Chase Allen-Jackman was able to make the tackle four yards short of the goal line.

On the next play, Westran put the ball in Kitchen’s capable hands, but Fayette senior lineman Malakai Graves stopped him at the 3-yard line with the clock still running. 

Kitchen carried the ball again but was brought down at the 2-yard line. On fourth down, with the clock about to expire and the game on the line, Kitchen again tried to punch the ball across the goal line. Sophomore Micah Estes made the stop, but Kitchen wasn’t done. He lateraled the ball to his trailing quarterback, who was hauled down by sophomore Kaleb Friebe and freshman Carter Vroman as the buzzer sounded to preserve the Fayette win.

“Kaleb [Friebe] grabbed him, and I took him down,” Vroman explained after the game.

Fayette senior lineman Haden Kelly said his team really focused on those final plays. “We came out of that huddle during the time out and told our guys they were going to have to man up, and that’s what happened.

“We did a great job as a team down there,” Kelly said. “I’m proud of the guys. We could have easily laid down and let them score right there, but we didn’t. We held up the wall, and we stopped them. I’m proud of us.”

Fellow senior lineman Malakai Graves described the moment felt by the Falcon defense on that final stand. “This is our time to shine, and this is our time to win the game. It comes down to who wants it the most, and I think we wanted it the most.”

The dramatic win makes Fayette one of only three Lewis & Clark teams to remain unbeaten in the conference. Harrisburg and Salisbury also hold lossless marks and will face off Friday in Harrisburg.

Friday’s goal line stand was the shining moment for a defense that had struggled to stop Westran’s rushing game all night. “The fact that we were able to keep them out was honestly shocking,” said Fayette coach Mike Thompson. “We weren’t able to stop Langden [Kitchen] all night. He was good for six yards every time he touched it.

“That’s what character is about, really,” Thompson said. “I thought the difference for us is that these guys believed. No matter what happened, they believed. That’s the mentality.”

Fayette held a lead for the majority of the game after scoring a touchdown on the kickoff. Senior Ben Wells hauled in the Westran kick and ran it all the way back for the touchdown. The point-after kick from Friebe sailed through the uprights to give Fayette a 7-0 lead to start the game. 

The Hornets answered with big runs on their next drive, taking the ball down 91 yards for a score. On their first play from scrimmage, sophomore running back Jack Harlan broke loose for 61 yards. Moments later, he ran the ball 36 yards to the endzone. The point-after kick went wide left, allowing Fayette to maintain a narrow lead.

On their next drive, the Falcons looked as if they would have to surrender the ball at midfield. But Vroman converted a fourth-and-two situation with an 11-yard run to the Westran 29-yard line to keep the drive alive. About a minute later, Wells connected with Jackman on a pass. Jackman ran through three defenders to break the goal line and put Fayette up by a touchdown.

Friebe’s kick was blocked, making Fayette’s 13-6.

Westran would again make it a one-point game. A minute into the second quarter, Kitchen ran the ball to the 1-yard line. Two plays later, he ran it in for the score. the kick was no good, making the score 13-12.

A fumble on the next drive by the Falcons nearly cost them the game. Westran took over its own 40 before driving all the way to the Fayette 9-yard line. But a pass into the endzone was intercepted by Wells to cancel the score.

The Hornets took their only lead of the game four minutes into the second half. After marching down the field, Kitchen broke through the Fayette defense on an 11-yard touchdown run. Westran’s two-point conversion failed, making the score 18-13 in favor of the Hornets.

The Falcons answered with their final touchdown of the game to regain the lead. With 3:52 on the clock in the third quarter, Wells found Jackman in the corner of the endzone from three yards out on fourth down.

Wells connected with Jackman again in the same corner for the two-point conversion to put Fayette in the lead by three.

“Ben put some balls up in some pretty good spots, and I think Chase, just through his technique, made those catches,” Thompson said. “Now Chase is starting to look like an elite receiver. And Ben is throwing the ball really, really well.”

Wells completed 11 of 21 passing attempts for 123 yards and two touchdowns, both to Jackman. He also had two rushes on the night for 25 yards.

“He’s averaging over 10 yards a carry when he runs the football,” Thompson said about his senior quarterback. “He’s so good running the football.”

Jackman was Wells’s chief target on the night, catching eight passes for 95 yards with two touchdowns and a two-point conversion. He also carried the ball for 20 yards on three rushing attempts. 

On defense, Jackman finished the night with nine tackles and two assists. He made the crucial tackle of Kitchen at the 4-yard line with 52.3 seconds left in the game to prevent a go-ahead score by Westran.

“Chase tackled that dude at the 4-yard line and gave us a chance. Otherwise, the game’s over,” Thompson said.

Freshman Carter Vroman led Fayette’s rushing attack with 11 carries for 43 yards. He also made one catch for 12 yards. But where Vroman really shined was on the defensive side of the ball. He had five tackles and four assists. Three of his tackles were for losses, and he assisted on the game-winning stop at the end of the game.

“Carter Vroman grew up a ton on the defensive side of the ball from week one to week two, to week three, to tonight. He’s really improving,”  said Thompson.

Defensively, DJ Moore led the Falcons all night. The senior linebacker channeled emotions stemming from a family tragedy one year prior into a defensive showcase.

“It’s been a year since my dad passed away. So this was definitely for him,” Moore said after the game.

Moore finished with a game-high 17 tackles with three assists and one tackle for loss.

“Our energy level was low. And then we realized we couldn’t stop,” Moore explained about his team’s play in the second half. “We just knew we had to stop them. That was the mentality.”

Coach Thompson echoed his defensive leader’s sentiments. “I think we really just started to doubt ourselves,” He explained. “I think that doubt led to us not playing with the type of emotion that we need to play with. I think what you saw at the end was what we could be all the time.”

On the offensive side of the ball, Moore finished the night with eight carries for 35 yards.

“We just played our hardest and didn’t stop,” Moore said.

Another senior with a big defensive night was Malaki Graves, who finished with nine tackles, two assists, and two take-downs for loss. He also came up with a big fourth-down quarterback sack in the first quarter to force a turnover on downs.

The Falcons made 69 tackles on the night, with 11 tackles for losses. Two of those tackles behind the line of scrimmage were by senior Haden Kelly, who had six tackles and two assists. He also forced a fumble. 

“We were talking to each other, getting on each other. Telling our guys to focus. Telling them we needed to man up. We stepped up,” Kelly said. “I could not be more proud of everybody who played tonight.”

Fayette’s defense benefitted from the strong play by up-and-coming underclassmen. Sophomore linebacker Corbin Tucker came up with seven tackles, six assists, and a tackle for loss. Another sophomore linebacker, Micah Estes, made six takedowns with 10 assists and one tackle for loss.

“You talk about a team effort. There were guys who made plays all over the field in those moments when you need to make great plays,” Thompson said . “When we needed to have that great effort, I think our level of effort went up, and they did not match ours. Our level of effort really escalated in a moment that tells you whether you’re a winner or whether you’re not. We found out our kids are winners.”

The Falcons, now 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the Lewis & Clark Conference, hope to harness the momentum from Friday’s dramatic victory for this week’s game at Marceline. The Tigers have traditionally dominated the conference and a season ago finished as the state runner-up. But this year, they have had an uncharacteristically poor start to the season.

Marceline is 0-4. Last week the Tigers fell 26-0 to Hogan Prep Academy. The week prior, they were pummeled by Harrisburg 34-8.

“What I do know is they will be excited to play us,” Thompson said. “We will get their very best football game. I think our kids are going to be extremely excited to play them, as well. I would expect a very spirited football game. These games are so emotional. There is blood in the water over there a little bit.”

Marceline accounted for both of Fayette’s losses a year ago, including a one-point decision in the state quarterfinals.

“Our guys will be excited. And I know they will be ready to play,” Thompson said. “If I was a Falcon fan, I think I would want to go to this one. It should be intense.”