Fairfield football again falls by one

They say football can be a game of inches.

Fairfield found that out the hard way Friday. A point after touchdown kick was called wide right with 53 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, allowing rival Washington to edge the Trojans 14-13 in the Class 3A District 7 opener for both schools.

Washington (2-1, 1-0 District 7) won off two touchdowns late in the second half after trailing Fairfield (0-3, 0-1) for more than half the game. Tanner Knupp scored six on a touchdown run in the third quarter, and the junior caught the eventual game-winning touchdown pass two possessions later from sophomore quarterback Daryn Sebelius.

Fairfield scored first on its second possession of the game. After Washington?s Knupp intercepted a pass in the Washington red zone, Fairfield?s Cody Cohen recovered a fumble at the Washington 20, setting up a 21-yard pass from Dillon Fry to Justin Hammes with 6:49 to go in the first quarter.

Fairfield held the seven-point advantage the rest of the half, as Washington was plagued by a string of fumbles and penalties.

?We were laying an egg in the first half,? said Washington head coach Randy Schrader. ?Both [teams] tried to give it away, I think really is what it boiled down to. Everybody had opportunities.?

In the second half, Washington marched down to Fairfield?s 2-yard line on the opening drive before coughing up a fumble. But Washington?s defense held Fairfield to a quick three-and-out, and a 32-yard punt return by Kyle Roder put the Demons back in business on the Fairfield 13. Washington took advantage of the excellent field position as Knupp tied the game at 7-all with a 6-yard rushing touchdown.

Knupp finished the game with 58 yards on seven carries, and Roder led all rushers with 85 yards on 23 rushing attempts.

Two possessions later, Sebelius helped Washington to a 14-7 lead when he found Knupp on a short post route from nine yards out. Knupp was met by two Fairfield defenders at the goal line but found just enough end zone to hand Washington its first lead of the game.

?He?s usually always open on that play,? Sebelius said of Knupp. ?He was the person I was looking for on that, and once he waved his hand I knew to just throw it to him right away.?

The two teams traded possession until Fairfield got the ball back at the Washington 48 with 1:07 left in the game. Fry drilled Spencer Peterman with a 22-yard pass before finding Vince Horras in the end zone with 53.9 seconds remaining.

Fry turned in his best game of the season and completed 11 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Peterman caught seven of those passes for 89 yards to lead all receivers.

Following the clutch touchdown throw to Horras, Fairfield opted to kick the PAT for a chance to send the game into overtime. The attempt by first-year kicker Matt Carr was close but declared no good, and the Trojans could only watch as Washington ran the clock out.

Fairfield head coach Mike Schenck said going for two and the outright win was never an option that crossed his mind.

?Even looking back at it now, we really never considered going for two,? Schenck said. ?We wanted to get it into overtime where we felt we had a better chance.

?I thought it was good, but I noticed Matt evidently didn?t think it was good. I felt really bad for him, but he?s a good kicker. We put him out there with a tremendous amount of pressure, and he probably makes it 9 out of 10 times.?

The Trojans have now lost two straight games by just one point after dropping a 27-26 game to Davis County in Week 2. Their three losses have been by a combined nine points.

Despite another painful loss for Fairfield, Schenck remained hopeful the wins will start coming for his Trojans.

?I was really proud of our kids. When we got down we could?ve quit, but we came back,? Schenck said. ?We know they?re a quality team ? they?re one of the top picks in the district ? so we have to feel we can be competitive in our district.?

Fairfield plays at Keokuk (1-2, 1-0 District 7) Friday, while the Demons host non-district opponent Marion (2-1, 1-0 District 6) for their homecoming.

Washington 14, Fairfield 13

W FF

14 First Downs 10

48-174 Rushing 28-50

11-14-105 Passing 11-24-140

279 Total Yards 190

1-0 TD-INT 2-1

6-4 Fumbles-lost 1-1

8-100 Penalties 2-15

Scoring Summary

1st ? 6:49 (FF) Fry 21-pass to Hammes (Carr kick)

3rd ? 2:21 (W) Knupp 6-run (Quigley kick)

4th ? 7:45 (W) Sebelius 9-pass to Knupp (Quigley kick); 0:53 (FF) Fry 26-pass to Horras (kick failed)

Rushing ? (FF) Carnahan 15-36, Fry 12-13, Hammes 1-1; (W) Roder 23-85, Coker 10-32, Knupp 7-58 (TD), Hora 1-3, Sebelius 7-(-4)

Passing ? (FF) Fry 11-24-140 (2TD); (W) Sebelius 11-14-105 (TD)

Receiving ? (FF) Peterman 7-89, Horras 1-26 (TD), Hammes 1-21 (TD), Carnahan 1-4, Love 1-0; (W) Knupp 4-32 (TD), Sanchez 3-27, Hoffman 2-22, Hora 1-16, Coker 1-8

Tackles ? (FF) Jaquez 12 (1.5 sack), Gevock 10, Leonard 9, Jackson 7, Davisson 6, Swanson 6, Mineart 6, Deao 5, Scott 3, Cohen 3, Dimmitt 2 (.5 sack), Schwarz 2, Hammel 1, Martin 1; (W) Shelangoski 14, Leutele 14, Hoffman 12, Covington 12, Woods 12, Roder 11, Hora 10, Coker 5, Sanchez 4, Knupp 4 (int), Lillie 2, Bump 1, Sivels 1, Brinning 1, Hesseltine 1