Trojans-Panthers renew fierce rivalry

FAIRFIELD - They say throw out the record books when two rivals collide. You won't need to this week, as 1-1 Fairfield hosts 1-1 Mt. Pleasant in a game that has been a little streaky in the last few years. The Panthers have taken the last three matchups after Fairfield had won six games in a row before that.

The games within the streaks, however, certainly haven't been one sided. In the last two games, in fact, the Trojans and Panthers have been neck-and-neck at halftime.

Mt. Pleasant came into last year's contest heavily favored. The Panthers hosted Fairfield for their homecoming game with a 3-1 record, including a 22-point win over a ranked Clear Creek-Amana team and two straight blowouts against Central Lee and Ottumwa. The Trojans were reeling after their fourth-straight loss to start the season.

When the game started, however, Fairfield put the Panthers on early upset alert. Fairfield hit a passing touchdown to Landon Kooiker in the first half, and Landen Schafer took a kick return to the end zone, helping the Trojans take a 16-14 lead into halftime.

Mt. Pleasant, however, buckled down on defense and shut the Trojans down in the second half, while scoring 28 more points of their own to run away with a 42-16 win. Current starting quarterback Jack Johnson had 130 yards and two touchdowns in the win, and 2013 graduate Rylan Seberg went off for 174 yards and there scores.

The Trojans and Panthers had played a similar game the year before, in Fairfield. In 2018, the Trojans took an early 7-0 lead and trailed just 14-10 at halftime before Mt. Pleasant turned on the jets in the second half tow in 35-17. Panther quarterback Zach Beason accounted for 383 total yards and there touchdowns and Fairfield running back Tristin Waugh had 249 total yards and two scores.

Flash back one more year, and it was the Panthers again winning in Fairfield. In one of the more lopsided games in the rivalry, Beason's Panthers scored four touchdowns through the air and shut the Trojans out 27-0. That game was the one that snapped a Trojan winning streak that dated all the way back to 2011.

Fairfield's six-game winning streak between 2011-2016 had a lot to do with Fairfield's ability to move the ball. The Trojans scored just over 41 points per game in those six wings and never put up anything less than 33.

Fairfield's highest scoring game in the streak came in 2013, when Cameron Baumann threw for three touchdowns and ran for three more as a freshman. The lowest-scoring game of the streak came when Fairfield won 33-10 in 2012 behind a 226-yard, three-touchdown performance by senior running back Mason Carnahan. In that game, the Trojans outscored the Panthers 26-7 in the second half after a going into the locker rooms at Mapleleaf Athletic Complex with a slim 7-3 lead.

Fairfield's last two wins in their streak both came in exciting back-and-forth battles in Mt. Pleasant. The Trojans won 43-33 in 2015, partially due to a huge pick-six for then junior Brandon Smithburg. Fairfield picked off three Mt. Pleasant passes that night, spoiling a big night for Panther quarterback Joe Hess, who threw for 306 yards and four touchdowns in the loss. In 2016, the Trojans came back from down 28-21 in the fourth quarter to score two touchdowns in the final period and walk out with a 35-28 win, Baumann's fourth of the series.

Overall, Fairfield went 6-4 in the last decade of the rivalry. The total points have been fairly even with the Trojans outscoring the Panthers 294-269. Mt. Pleasant's shutout in 2017 was the only one of the last 10 matchups between the two squads.

Could Mt. Pleasant win its fourth-straight game in the rivalry, or will Fairfield foil the Panthers for the first time since 2016? The Trojans and Panthers start a new chapter at 7:30 p.m. at Fairfield High School where these two old time rivals do battle once again.