Big plays on both sides fuel Trojan win

Fairfield was expected to win going away Friday night, and that?s what it did ? eventually.

It may seem like a broken record, but once again, the Trojans were able to wear down Chariton up front and used the fatigue to put up big offensive numbers. That has been the case in each of the four wins this season, and Fairfield has scored 95 points in the second half compared to 34 in the first.

My notes indicate more than 300 of the 492 offensive yards were put up in the second half Friday night. That?s pretty big time. Especially when it was a one-possession game coming out of half time.

As head coach Jason Ganoe said after the game, if he had to choose, being a second-half team is the way to go. You?re not going to win any games in the first half, but you certainly can in the second.

Fairfield rolled up 370 yards on the ground, which is by far the most in at least three seasons, but it wasn?t always easy. The offense was, to say the least, a bit sluggish to begin the game and if not for a ridiculous fourth-down run by Michael Hammes it may have been a scoreless game at halftime.

Ganoe said the run was one of the best he?s ever seen on a high school football field, which I?d say means a little something.

Much has been made about this team being loaded with seniors, and in this case, the presence of mind that kind of experience provides may have been the biggest reason for that touchdown. It was a fourth-down play that was going nowhere ? if it was any other down I?m guessing Hammes just gets what he can and moves on to the next play. But the awareness to realize it was do-or-die led to him saying ?why not?? to reversing field, and being the fastest player on the field probably didn?t hurt either.

Now you just hope nobody makes a habit of that because those kinds of things don?t seem to work out like that too often.

It did work out that time however, and clearly provided a spark. Fairfield ran out of time on its last possession of the half, but the way it put up points after that speaks for itself.

Special teams and defense also did their part to push the offense in the right direction. Zach Vivier and Heath Jackson each came up with impressive interceptions and Corbin Harwood had an excellent punt return that I feel pushed Chariton over the edge. Harwood may have won himself the punt return job with that play regardless of the status of Grant Curran, who went down with a shoulder injury early in the game.

After the return, Fairfield scored two plays later ? its first two plays of the second half ? and you got the feeling at that point it was going to be mighty tough for Chariton to mount any sort of comeback. The score was only 14-0, but the momentum made it seem like quite a bit more and Fairfield turned it into a 28-0 lead fairly quickly.

Game over.

A 34-14 win looks convincing, and that?s the way it should have been against a team that will finish in the bottom half of the district. It?s nothing to really write home about, but you can?t have that every week.

I?m sure the coaching staff is still waiting for the Trojans to put together four complete quarters, which they haven?t come close to doing so far in 2010, but 4-1 is nothing to turn your back at.

District 7 isn?t shaping up to be nearly as good as I thought it would be, but that?s the fault of nobody in Fairfield. Win the games you should, which the Trojans have done so far, hope you play your best at Pella and you?ll be in the postseason where anything can happen.