Fairfield charges past Chariton with electric second half output

Fairfield and Chariton combined for 41 points in the second half Friday night ? compared to just seven in the first half ? but 27 of those second-half points belonged to Fairfield and it all added up to a 34-14 victory.

Trojan quarterback Jordan Leazer and running back Michael Hammes both ran behind their big offensive line for more than 150 yards ? most coming in the final 24 minutes ? and helped Fairfield (4-1, 2-1 District 7) to a 482-242 advantage in total yards on the night.

?If I had to choose one or the other, I suppose would rather us be a second half team,? said Fairfield head coach Jason Ganoe. ?When these guys make up their minds that they want to do something, they can do it. The difference was attitude, effort and a lot of chalkboard stuff in the halftime locker room.?

Leazer, playing his 23rd game under center for the Trojans, was back to showing off his dual-threat ability with a career-best 165 yards on the ground to go along with 112 through the air on 6-of-15 passing.

?Every week we say that we have to get Jordan running the ball more, and finally we just made ourselves do it,? Ganoe said. ?It paid dividends, and it helps everything else that much more as well.?

A big chunk of Leazer?s passing yards came from touchdown tosses of 51 and 39 yards to Hammes and wideout Jacob Lantz. The big plays were a big part of the Fairfield offense all night and helped break the game open after intermission.

?The big plays are all about everybody executing their job. When that happens good things usually follow,? Leazer said. ?We came out with more energy in the second half, and were just more ready to play. We started to spread them out a bit more and things opened up.?

But it was tough sledding for the Trojans early as Fairfield was forced to punt on its first four possessions before the defense came up with a shot in the arm. Hammes forced and recovered a fumble, and four plays later ? a fourth-down-and-five ? the senior ran circles around the Chariton (1-4, 1-2) defense for a 26-yard touchdown. Hammes started left and circled back around right before outrunning several Chargers to the end zone.

Zach Vivier and Heath Jackson intercepted passes on the next two Chariton possessions, but Fairfield couldn?t add to the 7-0 advantage it took into halftime.

However, it was a different story from that point on as the Trojans scored on four of its next five possessions to take a 34-7 lead in the fourth quarter.

Corbin Harwood?s weaving 40-yard punt return set up a 17-yard quarterback keeper by Leazer and an eight-yard touchdown run by Hammes one play later. Hammes also ended Fairfield?s next possession by taking a screen pass the distance ? again running from sideline to sideline ? for a 51-yard score.

It took Chariton until the 3:53 mark in the third quarter to pick up its first first down of the second half, but gave the ball back to Fairfield three plays later for another scoring drive. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Leazer hit Lantz on a slant pattern and the senior did the rest running 39 yards to pay dirt to make the scoreboard read 28-0.

Chariton running back Wuceley Andersen punched in a one-yard touchdown before Leazer added one more score for Fairfield. Leazer finished the game averaging 10.3 yards per carry thanks to a 50-yard burst earlier in the drive that ended with the two-yard score.

??I just saw lanes opening up. The line got out in front of me and I just had to run as hard as I could,? said Leazer.

Andersen remains District 7?s leading rusher over Hammes after finishing with 80 yards on 19 carries. But the Chariton running game was ineffective for most of the night and forced Charger quarterback Dalton Storm to the air where he completed just 11-of-26 passes for 146 yards. Most of those completions came late in the game including a 48-yard touchdown toss to Dalton Stites in the final minutes to go along with the two interceptions.

?It was one of our focal points. We knew they had a decent ability to throw the football,? said Ganoe. ?I think they wanted to run the football, but when they realized they couldn?t, they had to go to the pass. But that?s not their arsenal and not what they do best.?

Jeff Guttry was partly responsible for helping stop both the run and pass from his linebacker position and was once again the Trojans? leading tackler with seven solo stops.

The win is Fairfield?s fourth in five tries this season, and it will look to improve on that as well as its 2-1 District 7 record with this week?s trip to Oskaloosa.