Fairfield eighth-grade football splits with Panthers

MOUNT PLEASANT ? It was a mixed bag of results for the Fairfield eighth-grade football team in Tuesday?s games with conference rival Mount Pleasant.

The Trojan ?A? team fell to the host Panthers 36-0, but the ?B? team won by a similar margin with a 42-0 victory.

Tony Zapata and Michael Fritz led the ?A? offense with 56 and 54 yards rushing, respectively. Baily Kemp was 2-for-3 passing for 22 yards. Brian Buch caught one of those passes for 14 yards, and Zapata caught the other for an eight-yard gain.

Josh Osby made five tackles to lead the defense, and Fritz had three stops along with a fumble recovery. Alex Conrad and Brandon Smithburg made three tackles each, and Denver Schultz, Kyle Roberts and Trenton Hanen each had two. Cam Baumann forced a fumble.

In the ?B? contest, Brayden Miller broke off a few large gains to rack up 184 yards and three touchdowns on just nine carries. Eric Swan also scored on a huge 74-yard run. Kleyton Benedict was 3-for-4 passing for 41 yards and a score, including two passes for 32 yards to Jacob Morgan. Brayden Miller made one catch for nine yards.

Morgan was the tackle leader with nine stops and a forced fumble. Charles Heisel had four tackles, and Simon Spalla and Mitchell Taglauer made three apiece. James Bechtel had a fumble recovery to go with two tackles.

The Trojans return home to take on Fort Madison next Tuesday.

Seventh-graders host Panthers

The Fairfield Middle School seventh-grade football team played host to Mount Pleasant Tuesday.

The Trojans lost the ?A? game 16-0 and fell 22-6 in the ?B? contest. The two Fairfield squads are now 1-1 on the young season.

Steeler Higdon led the ?A? offense with six rushes for 48 yards. Hunter Drish caught one pass to 10 yards and Kolten Webber hauled in a nine-yard pass.

Higdon also led on defense with 11 tackles, and Hunter Hoskins had eight stops.

In the ?B? contest, Graham Kuehl scored the seventh-graders lone touchdown on a 16-yard run. Kuehl rushed for 60 yards in the game.

Stetston Spees and Derek Beasley caught one pass apiece for 20 and 18 yards, respectively. Kuehl had seven tackles and Spees tallied five.

Next up for the seventh-graders is a trip to Fort Madison next Tuesday.