Osky rally stuns Fairfield

OSKALOOSA ? Fairfield put together a dominating first half, but Oskaloosa didn?t seem to care coming out of the halftime locker room.

And by the end of the night, the scoreboard didn?t either.

The Trojans (4-2, 2-2 District 7) jumped out to a 19-0 halftime lead with an astounding 286-15 advantage in total offense, but Oskaloosa (4-2, 3-1) rallied to take a wild 20-19 district victory in front of a homecoming crowd Friday night.

?I was worried to death the whole game, but give our kids credit for coming back to win,? said a beaming Oskaloosa head coach Darrell Schumacher. ?We can?t count on doing that too many times, but this time we did.?

Running back Jake Osborn busted a 40-yard run down the sideline and Tristan Cook?s extra point moments later gave the Indians their first lead with 2:42 remaining.

?We hadn?t run that play all year against a live defense,? Schumacher said. ?It?s a good football play, but we wanted to save it for a special occasion, and I think we pulled it out at the right time.?

Fairfield quarterback Jordan Leazer, who ran for 222 yards to surpass the career best he set a week earlier, then took the ball for the Trojans? final possession. Starting at his own 22-yard line, Leazer, who was the victim of a laceration on his throwing hand, completed a 34-yard pass to Braz Johnson on the first play of the drive.

?I asked Jordan if he could throw, and he said he would try,? said Fairfield head coach Jason Ganoe. ?It was right down to it, and we didn?t really have much of a choice.?

The senior converted a third-down-and-four with a run down to the Indian 27-yard line, but that?s as far as the drive would go as the next four passes fell incomplete and Oskaloosa took over to drain the final 1:19 off the clock.

Fairfield?s final play was the fourth time Oskaloosa had stopped the Trojans on a fourth down.

Osborn ran for all three of the Indians? touchdown in the second half including their first score from eight yards out with 35 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Earlier on that drive ? their first of the second half ? Oskaloosa picked up its first first-down of the game at the 4:40 mark and also converted a fourth-and-four fake punt to keep possession.

The Trojans? next possession ended with punt-snap going over the head of Leazer to set Oskaloosa up on the Fairfield 14-yard line. Osborne punched it in from two yards out four plays later to make the score 19-13.

Osborne finished the night with 99 yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Tyler Hafner completed just two passes in the game, but one came on the first play of Oskaloosa?s game-winning possession to jump-start the offense. Osborne ran the winning score in four plays later.

Fairfield made it down to the Oskaloosa 13-yard line on its first drive of the half and down to the 27 on its final possession, but couldn?t come up with any second-half points. The Trojans also missed an opportunity to score in the first half after Oskaloosa stood strong and held Fairfield two times in a row on the 1-yard line.

Fairfield had a 6-0 lead at the time thanks to Leazer?s one-yard scoring plunge in the first quarter. The touchdown was the cap of a methodical opening drive for the Trojans immediately following an Oskaloosa three-and-out to begin the game.

The opening drive was also the start of the big night for Leazer, who scored Fairfield?s second touchdown on a 55-yard draw play. After mishandling the snap on the first extra point, the Trojans went for two on the second, but the attempt failed and the score remained 12-0.

?There were a lot of things that went wrong, and a lot of things I?m kicking myself on right now,? Ganoe said. ?The kids played their hearts out, and I?m taking the blame for this one.?

Leazer found senior Grant Curran in the end zone to cap a 69-yard drive with 40 seconds remaining the second quarter for the Trojans? final score. Michael Hammes intercepted a pass in the closing seconds of the half, but a 38-yard field goal ended up just short as time expired.

Leazer ran for 176 yards in the first 24 minutes to help Fairfield to the 19-0 lead. Hammes finished the game with 101 yards on 30 carries and Grant Curran hauled in four of Leazer?s passes for 33 yards.

The Trojans hope to move on from the heartbreaking loss with a home contest vs. lowly Centerville this week.