3A Team of the Week: Fairfield Eagles
It would be easy to crumble as an underdog trailing 42-28 in the fourth quarter. That was exactly the situation Fairfield found itself in last Friday as a four seed up against district champion Orangefield.
But Fairfield isn’t just any team. These Eagles are battle tested.
“We have been in this situation before. We were down by 14 against Maypearl, down by 10 against Buffalo. We have been down and our kids just keep going to the next play,” Fairfield head coach John Bachtel said. “I am proud of how our kids move on from the last play to the next play.”
Just as Bachtel said, they quickly moved on from that 14-point deficit as Finn Smith took the ensuing kickoff back to the house to cut the deficit to seven. Smith was just getting started. Eagle quarterback Kohl Collins found him for 44-yard and 27-yard touchdowns in the closing six minutes as the Eagles soared back to claim an improbable 49-42 victory. It was the program’s first playoff win since 2019.
Round 1… Put up video game numbers…Onto the next.⭐️
Total Yards:325
Touchdowns:4
Receiving yards:123, 2tds
Kick Return yards:202, 2tds (3 returns)@SkysTheLimitWR @PrepRedzoneTX @TXTopTalent @Marchen44 @FlightSkillz @texashsfootball @Tre_LandoTFL @Rivals @RyanOKeefe23 @dctf pic.twitter.com/DF3A2RxfYV— Finn Smith (@Finnsmith34) November 16, 2024
Smith was the star of the show with four total touchdowns, but the Eagle backfield also had a big night. Collins threw for 346 yards and four touchdowns, while running back Jaylon Shed kept the offense two-dimensional with 162 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries.
When Collins wasn’t looking Smith’s way, he also had several big completions to Connor Colvert (five receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown) and Calyn Wilson (four catches for 60 yards).
Defensively, Tate Lewis and Khalil Appel led the Eagles with 14 total tackles and 13 total tackles.
Next up, Fairfield will look to advance past the area round for the first time since their state championship appearance in 2013. The Eagles will meet Yoakum in Temple on Friday.
Previous 3A Teams of the Week
Week One: Idalou
Week Two: Life Oak Cliff
Week Three: Jourdanton
Week Four: Hitchcock
Week Five: Universal City Randolph
Week Six: De Kalb
Week Seven: Palmer
Week Eight: Vanderbilt Industrial
Week Nine: Shallowater
Week Ten: Jefferson
Week Eleven: Pilot Point
