Fairfield Central’s Kalil Keitt (30) and Kevin Bannister (55) swallow up Eau Claire’s Takari Robinson (20).
The Fairfield Central Griffins may have spit the ball up on their first possession Friday night, but it was their only real miscue during a homecoming game that quickly degenerated into a full-blow highlight reel as they toasted the Eau Claire Shamrocks 54-0 before the home crowd.
“After that first fumble, I thought we played pretty decent,” Griffins head coach Demetrius Davis said. “Defensively, I thought we were assertive. I thought we set the tone early. We got our first shutout of the year. I thought defensively we came out and got after it pretty good.”
The Griffin defense held Eau Claire to just five total offensive yards on the night, smothering the Shamrock passing game and holding all but two ball carriers for negative yards. The Griffins, meanwhile, chewed up 239 yards on the ground while passing for 121.
“We threw the ball a little,” Davis said of his team that threw for 215 yards and four touchdowns last week at Columbia. “We threw a trick play in there early that we’d been working on. We’d been practicing it for about two weeks, so I thought it was time to run that.”
The trick in question, a double-reverse pass from their own 49-yard line, struck pay dirt as Griffin quarterback DeAndre Belton took the second toss on the reverse and pitched it 51 yards to Keith Workman for the score with 2:53 left in the first quarter. Compton Walker’s kick put the Griffins up 21-0 at that point.
Larry G. Bell ushered in the scoring frenzy for the Griffins on their second possession of the game with a 2-yard run with 7:00 on the clock in the first. Walker followed by returning the first of his two interceptions of Eau Claire quarterback Marquise Taylor 42 yards for the touchdown with 5:21 left in the first. Walker’s second pick came on the next Shamrock possession on a third-and-20 with 3:03 left at the Griffin 49, setting up the double-reverse pass. Daniel Maple would also rob Taylor with an interception in the second quarter at the Fairfield 21 with 3:23 on the clock.
Maple’s pick set in motion a drive that would culminate in another scoring run by Bell, this time from 7 yards out just before the half.
Eau Claire, meanwhile, did nothing to further their cause, fumbling punts, failing to cover live kickoffs and throwing into coverage. By the middle of the third quarter, Fairfield was able to run in their underclassmen, who, in spite of having a 48-0 lead, were eager to get in on the act. With 2;25 remaining in the game, freshman Miles Pearson added the exclamation point, rambling into the end zone from 5 yards out.
With the meat of the region still ahead of them, Davis said the Eau Claires of the world present their own specific challenges.
“It is hard to keep them focused,” Davis said. “When you get lackadaisical, that’s when you get hurt. Even though the score is what it is, we’re still practicing to get better. We’re not a very good football team right now, so we’re still working to get better.”
The Griffins travel to Columbia next week to play a Keenan team that is playing with renewed vigor, in spite of their loss Thursday night to Columbia, 55-12.
“Keenan is a very up and coming team,” Davis said. “Sometimes, with games like this, you have to bring your guys back down. We’ve got to come to work every day.”
FC – 28-20-0-6 54
EC – 0-0-0-0 0
First Quarter
FC – L.G. Bell 2 run. C. Walker kick. (7:00)
FC – C. Walker 42 INT return. C. Walker kick (5:21)
FC – K. Workman 51 pass from D. Belton. C. Walker kick. (2:53)
FC – D. Belton 13 run. C. Walker kick. (0:00)
Second Quarter
FC – D. Belton 18 run. C. Walker kick. (7:59)
FC – D. Maple 7 pass from D. Belton. Kick failed. (6:09)
FC – L.G. Bell 7 run. C. Walker kick. (0:54)
Fourth Quarter
M. Pearson 5 run. Kick failed. (2:25)
Team Stats
FC EC
First Downs 16 3
Penalties/Yards 4/35 5/35
Fumbles/Lost 4/1 1/1
Rushes/Yards 38/239 23/5
Passing Yards 121 0
C-A-INT-TD 6-8-0-2 0-9-3-0
Individual Stats
RUSHING: FC – Damien Bell 16-109. DeAndre Belton 6-54. Larry G. Bell 5-16. Markelle Whittaker 2-9. Joseph Young 3-13. Miles Pearson 6-38. EC – Takai Robinson 3-(-3). Kareem Jones 7-19. Marquise Taylor 4-(-26). Michael Diggs 5-12. Tierrell Brown 4-3.
PASSING: FC – DeAndre Belton 6-7-121 yards 0 INT 2 TD. Markelle Whittaker 0-1-0 yards. EC – Marquise Taylor 0-9-0 yards 3 INT.
RECEIVING: FC – Tyren White 1-13. Keith Workman 2-64. Daniel Maple 1-7. Kewaun Squirewell 1-26. Javin George 1-11. Jaylen Copeland 1-0.