The Falcons lost a Homecoming heartbreaker on Friday, as No. 10 Westran put the game away with a final touchdown on fourth down with 41.9 seconds left to play, spoiling an otherwise gallant effort by a gritty Fayette team.

Tied 28-28 with under two minutes to play, Fayette had possession and was moving the ball downfield. But a fumble on the Westran 25-yard line with 1:53 remaining was recovered by the Hornets, halting the Falcons’ momentum and turning the tables on the game’s final moments.

Fayette coach Kenny Grubb said the plan was to keep the ball on the ground and burn the clock, hoping to score in the final second of the game.

“We were moving the football. They guessed right on the blitz. We were going backside, and they blitzed the backside,” Grubb said.

But it was more than just strategy and good guesswork at play. The game started with the temperature in the 90s. The heat, combined with suffocating humidity and no breeze, kept sweat pouring out of players all night.

“Wet football. Wet bodies. Wet arms.” That was how Coach Grubb described the night. Those conditions led to a slew of turnovers for both teams. Fayette lost four fumbles on the night as the soaking wet ball proved difficult to hold onto. Westran turned the ball over twice on interceptions. A third interception erased a Hornets’ two-point conversion attempt that kept the game tied.

“There isn’t a guy in our huddle who isn’t completely exhausted,” Grubb said after the game. “I’m proud of our football team. There were times when we could’ve put our heads down and been done. But they didn’t do that.”

Grubb said he challenged his players to be the best version of themselves. And they delivered. “That’s the best version of that football team that I’ve seen,” he said.

Both teams gnashed to an 8-8 tie by halftime. Westran scored first in the opening quarter when junior Carter Wells broke loose for 46 yards down the left sideline. The two-point conversion was successful, giving the Hornets a brief 8-0 lead.

The Falcons answered in the second quarter, set up by a punt block by sophomore Justin Kunze with 5:50 left in the half. Fayette took over on the Westran 46. Quarterback Colten Cross found a seam, taking the ball all the way to the 4-yard line.

Moments later, Falcon senior fullback Brodi Tucker scored on a five-yard punch up the middle. He then scored on the two-point try, tying the game 8-8 with 1:48 left in the second quarter.

Grubb said he made a few minor adjustments at halftime but otherwise told his players to pound the ball in the second half.

“We were going to put ourselves on our offensive line’s back, and we are going to pound the football,” he said.

The Falcons took it to heart and scored on the first drive of the second half. Another big run from Cross set up Fayette’s second touchdown when he scrambled from the Fayette 27 all the way to the Westran 8-yard line. Tucker finished the drive on the next play, scoring his second of four touchdowns on the night from eight yards out to put the Falcons in front 14-8.

“We did exactly what we said we were going to do,” Grubb said.

The lead wouldn’t last. Less than three minutes later, the Hornets climbed back on top with a touchdown on fourth down followed by a two-point conversion. It was the first of three fourth-down scores for Westran in the second half.

But Fayette would score again with 18.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Falcons marched down the field, taking six minutes of the clock. Tucker then punched it in on a two-yard blast up the middle. The two-point conversion failed, but Fayette had the lead again, 20-16.

The Hornets answered in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, scoring a 49-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-seven situation to go ahead 22-20.

The ensuing onside kick attempt by the Hornets was recovered by Fayette senior Ky Cunningham at midfield to start the Falcons with good field position. Cross again broke away for a run into the red zone, giving Fayette a fresh set of downs on a 20-yard run to the Westran 15. Less than a minute later, Tucker ran 14 yards to the right side of the end zone, putting Fayette back in front, 28-22.

At that point, Fayette was seven minutes and 32 seconds away from upsetting the 10th-ranked Hornets for a Homecoming victory. “I told them they were doing exactly what we asked of them. Keep doing it. We have to get stops,” Grubb said.

But Fayette was backed up for their kickoff due to a penalty on the previous play. The short kickoff was fielded by Wells, who returned it all the way back to the end zone, tying the game at 28-28.

But the Falcons caught a break when freshman Drew Vandelicht intercepted a pass from Hornets quarterback Brody Kallmeyer on the two-point try to keep the game knotted at 28-28.

A pair of turnovers kept the game exciting as the fourth quarter wore on. Westran recovered a Falcons’ fumble at midfield with 6:27 left. Two minutes later, Cross returned the favor, intercepting Kallmeyer’s pass at the 49-yard line.

Cross then put the team on his back, running for back-to-back first downs all the way to the Westran 25 with 2:33 left to play. But moments later, Fayette lost its fourth fumble of the night, turning the ball back over to Westran with 1:53 left to play.

The Fayette defense went to work, stopping the Hornets on three straight plays. But coming out of a timeout, Westran went the unconventional route. Kallmeyer pitched the ball to Wells, who found junior tight end Tiernan Mooneyham wide open downfield behind the Falcon defense. He sprinted untouched for a 72-yard score, the Hornets third of the night on fourth down.

The two-point conversion gave Westran an eight-point lead with 41.9 seconds left to play.

Fayette was able to advance the ball to midfield but ran out of time at its own 47-yard line.

But despite the loss, Coach Grubb had nothing but positives to say about his team and coaches.

“We just kept finding ways and finding answers. I’m so proud of our coaches. They kept finding answers to adjustments,” he said.

Cross finished the night completing four of 10 passing attempts for 24 yards and an interception, while the Falcons mainly kept the ball on the ground. He also led the rushing game, carrying the ball 24 times for 127 yards.

Tucker added 146 yards on 21 carries and all four Falcon touchdowns.

“Colten and Brodi are going to be our workhorses. The option is doing it for us right now. They do a great job,” Grubb said.

The Falcons suffered a significant loss early in the game when sophomore running back and special teams returner Kielin Pulliam was sidelined with an ankle injury, leaving the already small roster down a key man.

“We put Chase Vandelicht in there,” Grubb said. “The times we gave him the ball, we moved the football. We asked him for 3 yards a play, and he did it.”

Vandelicht carried the ball four times for 10 yards.

Cross hit four separate receivers on the night. Leading the way was sophomore Paxton Llewellyn with one grab for 12 yards. Tucker added a nine-yard reception. Freshman Drew Vandelicht had a catch for two yards, and Cunningham added a one-yard reception.

Defensively, Tucker led the way with 10 assists, two of which went for losses. Drew Vandelicht had five tackles (4 solo), followed by senior Ledgyr Conrow with two solo tackles and two assists. Cross added four assists and a solo takedown. Cunningham added four assists, followed by sophomores Christian Craig and Kingston Ejilika, each with three. Kunze and sophomore Kace Kelsey each added two assists.

Friday’s game had wider relevance than just a non-conference game on Homecoming. The team’s are both assigned to the Class 1 District 7. Fayette defeated the Hornets twice a year ago, once in the district tournament.

The Hornets moved ahead of the Falcons in the district standings after Friday’s win, possibly securing a first-round bye. Fayette is currently third in the standings. The top three seeds are granted a bye week in the first round of the postseason tournament. While it is still early, it is conceivable that Fayette and Westran could clash again in the district tournament.

Fayette opens Central State 8 Conference action this week, traveling to fourth-ranked Russellville (4-0) on Friday. The Indians are one of four ranked teams on the Falcons’ schedule, two of which are in the CS8.

“Our conference is really good,” Grubb said. “We’re going to give (Russellville’s) Coach Rulo everything we can. You’re going to see two offenses that look very similar.”

The Falcons stay on the road next week to face Linn, so far winless on the season at 4-0, before returning home to face top-ranked Tipton, the defending Class 1 state champion, on October 9.