Jacob Nicol rushes with the ball to the outside as a West Liberty defender prepares to tackle him during the wet conditions Friday. Nicol rushed for 124 yards during the 38-35 loss.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
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The Fairbanks Panthers got their first taste of true football weather Friday night as the rain fell along with the temperatures.
The one thing that kept the game heated was the score. Both teams, West Liberty Salem and Fairbanks, flip-flopped the lead during the high scoring contest, but the Tigers came out on top, 38-35.
The Tigers were able to put on the pressure early as they drove down the field inside the red zone.
However, a resilient Panther defense forced the Tigers’ kicking team to take the field. Ethan Cole lined up for a 29-yard field goal attempt that fell short.
The Panthers responded with a long drive of their own. Fairbanks was able to utilize a combination of the ground game and passing by Jacob Nicol to move the ball down field to the Tiger 17-yard line.
Nicol connected with Tyler Beem for the first points of the game. Mason Smith couldn’t put the ball through the uprights on the point after attempt to keep the game at 6-0 midway through the first quarter.
The field wasn’t the only thing that was slick as the Panther defense had some slick moves of their own.
The Tigers were deep in their own territyr when quarterback Trevor Woodruff ran the ball around the end.
He collided with a wall of Panther defenders. One of those defenders was Gatlin Luke.
He used the wet weather to his advantage and striped the ball from Woodruff’s hands. Luke returned it for a defensive touchdown from 37 yards out. Smith made good contact with the ball to give the Panthers 13-0 lead just moments after their first TD.
Fairbanks head coach Patrick Cotter said it was all part of the Fairbanks plan.
“We ran everything that we practiced this week and we did everything that we wanted to do,” he said.
The Tigers, however, did not go quietly into the night. West Liberty marched down the field on six plays to tally their first points of the game.
Brady Forsythe scored on a run up the middle. Cole put the ball through the pipes to make it a 13-7 game.
The Panthers struggled on their next drive, which ended in a three and out.
On their punt, the ball sailed high, forcing a quick kick that shanked off the side of the Panther punter’s foot.
The ball went only four yards before being recovered by West Liberty at the nine-yard line.
The Tigers needed only two plays to travel those nine yards.
Zayne Reed rushed the final seven yards to tie the game at 13-13. Cole connected on another PAT to give the Tigers a 14-13 lead.
In the second quarter, the Panther defense ran into a Tiger wall as they attempted to keep the ball on the ground.
West Liberty, on the other hand, kept its offense rolling. The Tigers marched down the field and put points on the board in the form of a 25-yard field goal by Cole to go up 17-13.
The home team added more points before the half with an 84-yard drive that ended with a 19-yard pass by Woodruff to Zack Glock for a TD. Cole added another point to give West Liberty a 24-13 lead at the half.
“It was the tale of two halves,” Cotter said. “I though in the first half we let some things slip away offensively and defensively. We didn’t play with great emotion in the first half.”
With a rough quarter of football behind them, the Panthers came out as a new and invigorated team hungry for points.
Fairbanks took over the ball at midfield and pushed down inside the Tiger’s 10-yard line on a razzle-dazzle play by Beem.
The senior juggled a pass by Nicol as he moved his way past the tackling paws of the Tigers to the eight-yard line.
Nicol had no problem taking the ball the rest of the way as he rushed the ball in from seven yards out for the score. Mason Cushman added two points on a successful run to make it a 24-21 contest.
Luke came up big again on defense as he intercepted a Woodruff pass at the 35. He d returned it to the 15 before being pushed out of bounds.
With the ball in the red zone, Fairbanks handed it off to Cushman. He made easy work of the Tigers for another Panther TD in the first two minutes of the third quarter.
Smith kicked the pigskin through the uprights to return a 28-24 lead to Fairbanks.
“There were no adjustments (at halftime),” said Cotter. “We went in and had a quick chat.
“We said ‘gentlemen, you are better then this’ and they rose to the occasion. Every time I have ever asked them to rise up they have and they did.”
The game turned into an offensive slugfest as each team swapped the lead back-and- fourth.
The Tigers answered with a two-yard pass to Glock for a TD and a successful point after for a 31-28 edge.
The Panthers fired off a 70-yard, three-play burst for a TD by Nicol. The PAT gave FHS a 35-31 lead.
West Liberty came back in the fourth quarter with a drive of its own.
A 16-yard pass to Holden Neese and a kick by Cole gave the Tigers the lead back at 38-35.
The Panthers had no answer this time, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.
With a little more than two minutes left in the game, the Panthers took control of the ball at their own 14-yard line. With the hurry-up offense in full effect, Nicol went on a passing frenzy, hitting Beem, Cushman and Braeden Fairchild in rapid succession.
FHS moved the ball to the West Liberty 29 with just under a minute remaining. Some negative yardage runs and sack threw Fairbanks off course.
With 23 seconds left in the game and from 22 yards out, Nicol threw the ball under pressure into the arms of a West Liberty defender. That ended the Panthers’ chances of a comeback.
Cotter said close games are what make football such a great sport.
“That is the amazing thing about football,” he said. “Your emotions can go from skyrocketing down to the floor in three seconds. It is a tough one.”
The loss drops the Panthers record to 5-3 on the season. Even with the setback, Cotter believes his team will be ready to go for their next opponent, Triad.
“I know our kids are going to respond,” Cotter said. “They are going to come back and be ready to go (today). We’ll work on things that we may not done as well as we should have and be ready to go for Triad next week.”