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Fayette picked up a crucial win on Friday at Russellville, 34-28, in the final game of the regular season. The victory was not only important because it was Fayette’s second of the season, but …
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Fayette picked up a crucial win on Friday at Russellville, 34-28, in the final game of the regular season. The victory was not only important because it was Fayette’s second of the season, but it earns the Falcons a bye week in the first round of the postseason.
The win moves Fayette one position ahead of Russellville in the Class 1 District 2 standings, despite the Indians claiming more points and a better win-loss record of 3-6. Because the Falcons won the head-to-head matchup Friday, they pick up the sixth seed. The top six teams in the 10-team district receive a first-round bye, while the bottom four teams face a play-in round. Russellville was seeded seventh and will face 10th-seeded Cole Camp (0-9) on Friday (see bracket below, and district standings on Page 9).
Fayette will take on familiar opponent and former Lewis & Clark Conference rival Harrisburg, the third seed, next Friday, November 8, in Harrisburg. The Bulldogs won an earlier regular-season matchup 46-14 on October 18 in Fayette.
“The bye week will be good for us to get some rest and mental practices in, and hopefully focus on the things we didn’t do well last time against Harrisburg,” said Fayette coach Kole Hinton. “You don’t often get another chance at a team, so we need to take full advantage of what we know about them.”
For Fayette, the win caps an embattled regular season with a record of 2-7. But as coaches often say, the season starts over the first week of districts.
Friday’s victory was also a bit of retribution for the Falcons, who coughed up a lead only to lose to Russellville by four points in the first round of districts a year ago. It’s also the first time the teams have met as conference opponents since both helping to form the new Central State 8.
And while Hinton said it was good to claim the win, he still sees too many mistakes from his team. “I'm always a perfectionist. So, part of me is like, they shouldn't have scored a point, or, we should have scored more. But in the end, we are happy with it. I think we put four quarters together.”
Leading the way was a dominant rushing performance by running back Carter Vroman. The junior racked up 189 yards and two touchdowns on 20 attempts, mostly taking the snaps from the wildcat formation while starting quarterback Ledgyr Conrow watched from the sidelines most of the game.
“We’re trying all avenues to be successful,” Hinton said about not only the change in offensive strategy, but the way he called plays from the press box rather than the sideline.
Hinton said they had been working on the wildcat scheme with Vroman taking the snaps for a few weeks, and finally deployed it on Friday. “We thought we wanted to break it out this game, and potentially next game, and have a weapon that we’ve honed. And we thought this was the game to do it. We were able to bounce in and out. And we had some hiccups, but we felt good with it. It was a good experiment.”
The yardage was enough to surpass the 1,000-yard rushing milestone for the season. Vroman has run for 1,069 so far, with at least one game left to play. It is hoped the powerful running back will be able to suit up against Harrisburg after leaving the field at the end of Friday’s game with a head injury. It was not known as of press time on Tuesday if Vroman had suffered a concussion.
Vroman took the helm of the offense Friday. On the first play, he handed off to senior running back Micah Estes. On the second play, he ran the ball for a first down.
But the opening drive sputtered, and the Falcons were forced to punt. However, Russellville fumbled the ball on the punt reception. It was recovered by junior Colton Cross at the Indians’ 13-yard line.
With a fresh set of downs inside the red zone, Vroman handed off to Estes again. The senior ran in 13 yards for the first score of the game. The two-point attempt failed, making the score 6-0.
Fayette picked up another quick score five minutes later. After the Falcons’ defense stalled Russellville’s drive, senior Jacob Wood blocked the punt and recovered the loose ball on the 11-yard line.
On the next play, Vroman took the snap and ran it in for an 11-yard touchdown. This time, the two-point conversion was scored on a short run from freshman Blake Braden to give the Falcons a 14-0 lead.
The Indians cut Fayette’s lead in half on their next possession, marching down the field with their tried-and-true rushing offense. Russellville then capped the drive with a long touchdown pass to Jake Lake, III. The point-after attempt was good, cutting the Fayette lead to 14-7 with 42 seconds left in the first quarter.
After a punt from each team in the opening few minutes of the second period, Vroman found a seam and broke loose for 51 yards to the Russellville 25-yard line. A first-down run by Estes set up a new set of downs for Fayette at the 11-yard line.
On the next play with Conrow behind center, the sophomore quarterback connected with fullback Jaron Cross over the middle for the touchdown.
“That was beautiful. That was awesome,” Hinton said.
The two-point try failed, but Fayette regained a two-touchdown lead.
Fayette’s nightmare from a year ago almost reoccurred as the Indians responded with two more touchdowns before halftime, erasing the Falcons’ lead and going up by one, 21-20, at the break.
“The second quarter really killed us,” Hinton said. “We just ran out of gas and the flags…it was just wild out here. It was similar to what it was last year.”
Russellville scored again midway through the third quarter. After receiving the opening kickoff of the second half, the Indians used their run game to march the ball down the field, finally scoring on an 11-yard rush. The successful PAT gave Russellville a 28-20 lead.
“We had three or four missed tackles on every touchdown except the pass. A lot of the times we tackled them, we were there, but it was for four or five yards,” Hinton said. “We were finally able to do better in the second half.”
Fayette answered 61 seconds later on a 37-yard scoring catch-and run to the speedy Braden. Vroman then busted through the Indians’ line for the two-point conversion to even the score at 28-28.
The teams remained tied until late in the fourth quarter when Fayette scored the go-ahead touchdown with 4:53 left to play. Fayette took back possession on its own 16-yard line early in the final period when a big hit on the Russellville runner caused a fumble. Two minutes later it looked as if Fayette would turn the ball back over, but Vroman converted a fourth-and-four situation to give Fayette life on the 41-yard line.
As Fayette continued to work the clock, devastation visited the Falcons at midfield. Junior center Karson Dodson sustained a season-ending knee injury and was carried from the field by defensive coordinator Trenton Byers.
Wood took over snapping the ball, which meant the Falcon front would see a personnel change.
“It won’t change what we do,” Hinton said. “We will just keep it moving with the guys we have. What we really need is to coach up is another guard now.”
The Fayette offense wasn’t on the field much longer. Braden again showcased his speed, breaking loose for another big run before being pushed out of bounds at the 10-yard line.
Vroman then ran back-to-back short-yardage plays to take back the lead. The two-point conversion failed, holding Fayette to a fragile six-point lead.
Fayette’s defense found another gear in the late stages of the game, holding back Russellville’s bread-and-butter rushing game with the chance at victory on the line. Finally, with 1:27 left to play, the Falcons forced an incomplete pass on fourth-and-seven to all but clinch the win.
“That’s part of the mental toughness we’re trying to grow,” Hinton said about his team’s defensive stand in the final minutes. “It’s a hard mentality to have when you play both sides of the ball in Class 1 football.”
Vroman’s 189 rushing led the Fayette offense. Estes added 70 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown, but also lost one fumble. Jaron Cross added three rushes for 18 yards and also made a touchdown reception.
Braden led the receiving ranks with three grabs for 69 yards, including the 37-yard touchdown catch. Senior Kaleb Friebe made two catches for 25 yards, including a 19-yarder.
Fayette threw for 106 yards, split between two passers. While Vroman mostly ran after taking the snap, he passed half a dozen times, competing three for 44 yards including the touchdown pass to Braden. Conrow had an efficient night, completing five of six attempts for 62 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, Estes and Vroman each made 10 tackles, both with eight solo takedowns. Wood had an outstanding night with eight tackles (5 solo), had one tackle for loss, forced a fumble, and blocked a punt. Brodi Tucker finished with seven tackles (5 solo) in his first game back after injury. Friebe added five takedowns (4 solo).
Fayette walked off the field expecting to prepare for a play-in game on Friday. Sunday’s bracket revealed not only would the Falcons have a first-round bye, but they would have an extra week to prepare for Harrisburg.
The Bulldogs finished out their season with an easy 51-0 rout of Linn’s first-year varsity team. Harrisburg closes out the regular season at 5-4 overall.
Next Friday’s quarterfinal game kicks off at 7 p.m. in Harrisburg.
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