Fairbanks quarterback Jacob Nicol (far right) prepares to throw downfield at Southeastern on Friday. The Panthers won, 27-26.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
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High school is meant to be a time of learning and members of the Fairbanks football team learned something, something about themselves, in Friday night’s 27-26 win over Southeastern.
“We learned what we can do when our backs are to the wall,” said Fairbanks head Football Coach Patrick Cotter, pointing to the still-lit scoreboard. “That’s what we can do when our backs are to the wall and we know that now.”
What the Panthers did was rebound from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit.
“It has been a long time since we have come from behind like that to win one,” Cotter said. “That is a sign that we have matured, that they are starting to get it.”
The Panthers got on the board first as they took over their first possession inside Trojan territory. Less than two minutes into the game, Fairbanks quarterback Jacob Nicol bounced through the left side of his offensive line and ran 14 yards into the end zone. Kicker Megan Olson added the extra point and with 10:09 to play in the opening quarter, the visitors had a 7-0 advantage.
The Panther defense held, but on the first play of the next drive, Nicol’s first pass was slapped and bounced into the waiting hands of Southeastern defensive lineman Hayden McKee.
While the home team took over just 39 yards from the end zone, it needed four Panther penalties to keep the drive alive. On fourth and goal from the 7-yard line, Trojan Hayden Toops found receiver Charlie Bertemes on a skinny post in the end zone. Toops again tossed the pigskin into the end zone on the two-point try, taking an 8-7 lead.
The Champaign County hosts got the ball back on the ensuing kickoff. Panther Chase Litzke snagged a short kickoff and headed upfield, before being upended. Litzke came down on his head and dropped the ball, which a troop of Trojans jumped on.
On the first play of the resulting drive, Toops waggled to his right and found Bertemes on a deep crossing pattern. The defender had been hand fighting with Bertemes but fell down at the last minute and the Trojan wide-out, who caught the ball at the 28, was able to sprint untouched into the end zone.
The two-point conversion try failed, but with 3:35 to play in the quarter the Trojans extended their lead to 14-7.
The red and white clad guests narrowed that lead as the second quarter opened. Nicol took the first Panther play of the stanza and sprinted 50 yards down the home sideline. A late hit penalty on the play gave Fairbanks the ball at the Southeastern 15-yard line. Nicol took the next snap and bounced around the line of scrimmage before finding room and running in for the score. Olson’s kick sailed outside the goal posts and the Panthers still trailed 14-13.
The teams swapped possessions before Southeastern used a big play to stretch their advantage. After a short punt, Toops tossed a 60 yard scoring pass to Bertemes on the drive’s first play. Southeastern went into the lockers with a 20-13 lead after a failed two-point converstion.
Fairbanks returned to the field like a team determined to win. The Panthers pushed the pace and on both their first two possessions, they moved into the red zone but could not convert fourth-down opportunities to keep the drives alive.
In the final minute of the third period, Southeastern found the end zone. Toops completed a deep crossing pattern to Bertemes, who outran the coverage but appeared to drop the ball before crossing the goal line. The officials gave Bertemes the touchdown and the Trojans a 26-13 lead.
The squad from Milford Center responded on the ensuing possession. Nicol ran or passed on all but one of the drive’s 14 plays. The score was set up by a 12-yard pass to Tyler Beem. With 8:46 to play in the game, Nicol flipped into the endzone on a five-yard scoring run. Olson booted the pivotal extra point to pull her team within six points.
Cotter went back to the same sideline pass to Beem on his team’s next possession. This time, Beem made sure he stayed in the field of play, tip-toeing 29 yards along the visitor’s sideline and into the end zone with 5:00 to play.
Olson gave her team the lead with the successful extra point.
“She is as cool as they come,” Cotter said of his senior kicker. “She is tough. She has a strong leg. She knew what she had to do and she went out and did it. I am so proud of the job she has done for us.”
The Trojans had one more shot, but the Panther defense stood tall and when defensive back Justin Wulff snagged his second interception of the night, the threat and the game was over.
“We came out in the second half and our guys stepped up and made sure we were right where we needed to be to get this win,” said Cotter.
He said his team did not play well in the first half and it knew it.
“We knew we were better than we had played,” Cotter said. “We got some bad breaks, but none of them hung their head. They knew they had worked too hard the last two years to let it go to waste.”
Cotter credited Southeastern and his friend, Trojan head coach Payton Printz, for what he called, “a really fun game.”
“I think everyone got their $6 worth,” Cotter joked.
With the win, the Panthers move to 3-2 on the season and 2-1 in the Ohio Heritage Conference. They will host the undefeated West Jefferson Rough Riders on Friday.