Fairfield falls to No. 2 Solon

FAIRFIELD - Fairfield football was over matched in its first game of Class 3A District 4 play. The Trojans, who were without several starters due to injures, lost 77-0 at the hands of No. 2 Solon on Friday.

The Spartans scored 21 points in each of the first three quarters and out gained a battered Fairfield lineup 337-89 on offense. The Trojans were down starting quarterback Voss Richardson for Friday’s matchup. The team’s second-leading rusher Zandrik Allison was also sidelined during the game due to injury. That forced Fairfield to play many of its backups in a game against a top five team in Class 3A.

“We just ran into a real big buzzsaw tonight with a team that's extremely good,” Fairfield coach Matt Jones said after the game. “They have a lot of numbers and they have a lot great kids, and we were really shorthanded.”

The significant margin of Solon’s lead led to the game being played with a running clock in the second half. There was a lengthy pause with 1:07 remaining in the period when sophomore Liam Hunter was taken off field on a stretcher after he was driven into the ground by several Solon defenders following a short run. The Spartans were given a 15-yard personal foul for the play.

Junior Jackson Hollander attempted just four passes in place of Richardson at QB, and finished with one completion for 11 yards in four attempts. Freshman Owen Adam also took snaps at quarterback but did not attempt a pass.

Both Adam and Hollander, along with the rest of the younger Fairfield players earned praise from Jones for their willingness to step up in a tough spot.

“That's not easy and takes a lot of mental and emotional strength to be able to do that,” Jones said. “So really happy for those guys, and I thought that we had some older guys that were really working hard trying to lead. But Solon just overwhelmed us with their numbers and talent.”

Fairfield’s typically stacked rushing attack managed just 78 yards without the presence of Allison and Ricahrdson. Ethan Bisgard had 10 carries for 63 yards. Sophomore Tucker Robertson was the only other Fairfield player in double figures with 12 yards.

  Buy Photo

Jones is hoping the loss can serve as a character building moment for a Trojans team that now sits 1-4 on the season, including an 0-1 mark in district play. The Trojans have had some heartbreaking close defeats in non-district games, where they posted a 1-3 mark despite scoring 84 points in the losses.

The Trojans will conclude the season with four straight games against traditional Southeast Conference opponents. Despite the dejected feeling in the locker room Friday, Jones is confident that the familiarity of Fairfield’s next opponents and mentality of his players will help the Trojans rally.

“I know the character of lots and lots and lots of guys on the team, and I know they're they're going to (say) ‘Hey, we're going to get healthy,” Jones said. ‘“We're going to come back and we're going to come back from this stronger,’ that’s the choice that I hope they make.”

Fairfield will start the final stretch of its season on the road against Washington for its next game. The matchup is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Case Field and will be the Demons homecoming game.