Brogan Green of Fairbanks breaks tackles against Cardington Friday evening. Green rushed for more than 100 yards during the Panthers’ season-opening 17-0 victory. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
Fairbanks High School football coach Patrick Cotter leaned on some wisdom he learned from his Marysville High School coach Rich Weiskircher a number of years ago.
“We had what Coach Weiskircher called a ‘bend, but don’t break’ defense tonight,” Cotter said after the Panthers’ 17-0 victory over Cardington-Lincoln.
The visiting Pirates amassed 158 yards of total offense, but really didn’t get close enough to smell the end zone on most of their possessions.
“Our defense was phenomenal,” said Cotter. “We also had some adversity tonight with a couple of injuries, but the guys willed themselves to never quit.”
The game marked the first shutout that a Cotter-coached Panther squad has turned in during his tenure.
Cotter is beginning his seventh season at the FHS helm.
“That’s the kids who did that,” he said. “They just all did a great job.”
The game also marked the first time Cotter’s team went with the Wing T offense during a regular-season contest.
In the past, FHS has been a spread outfit.
The Panthers tallied 225 total yards, most of which came on the ground.
Brogan Green led Fairbanks’ 214 rushing yards with 102 on 13 carries.
“Brogan runs very hard,” said Cotter. “What I liked most of all was the fact we had eight guys touch the ball at one time or another.
“The kids are handling our offense well,” he said. “It’s become their identity.”
The Panthers took the opening kickoff and marched from their own 39 down to the Pirate 15.
The drive stalled, but Cotter called on kicker Cade Ziegler.
He broke the 0-0 stalemate with a 32-yard field goal that gave FHS a 3-0 edge.
The Pirates found the sledding to be very difficult against a stiff Panther defense.
The team from Morrow County punted after three plays.
Ryker Green fielded the kick and was off to the races.
He didn’t stop until he had returned the ball down to the Pirate 23.
The Panthers lost the pigskin on downs, but regained possession early in the second quarter.
Tanner Ufferman of FHS recovered a fumble at the Pirate 34.
From there, the Panthers (who will travel to Indian Lake on Friday) needed just eight plays to score their first touchdown of the season.
Green, Riordin Stauffer and Ethan Kise took turns toting the ball down to the three-yard-line.
From there, Green bulled his way into the end zone.
Ziegler added the extra point, pushing FHS out to a 10-0 lead.
The Pirates mounted their one true attempt at a scoring drive inside of four minutes left in the opening half.
A total of 13 plays netted Cardington enough yardage down to the Fairbanks 11 with 14.6 seconds remaining until the break.
A couple of incomplete passes, however, returned the ball to FHS on downs.
One of those attempts was to Nate Hickman in the end zone.
Brice Phelps, however, knocked the ball away for FHS to end the threat.
Grant Rausch of Fairbanks ran the ball for one play as the half expired.
Cardington once again lost possession on downs during its first series of the third quarter.
The Panthers, however, then coughed up the pigskin.
Neither team, though, could capitalize on the other’s mistakes.
As such, the Panthers went into the final stanza nursing their 10-0 advantage.
Fairbanks’ series ended four plays into the fourth quarter when Ziegler went wide on a 41-yard field goal attempt.
Ufferman halted the Pirates’ next series when he recovered his second fumble.
The turnover set the Panthers up at the Cardington 46-yard-line with slightly more than five minutes left in the contest.
Kise, Stauffer and Green once again shared ball-carrying duties.
Stauffer twisted and turned his way into the end zone from the five-yard line.
Ziegler’s conversion pushed the Panthers out to a 17-0 lead with 2:19 on the clock.
Fairbanks scored after making a substitution on the offensive line at halftime.
Jameson Rausch took over for the injured Drew Lafon.
“Jameson came in and our offensive line didn’t miss a beat,” said Cotter.
The Pirates managed to get the ball up to their own 30 as the timer ran out.
Brice Phelps (12) of FHS breaks up a Cardington pass attempt in the end zone Friday evening. The Panthers held the Pirates scoreless during the opening game of the season. (Journal-Tribune by Chad Williamson)