FAIRVIEW — For the second straight year, Fairview’s playoff run stalled with a first-round loss.
The Aggies — back in the postseason for a fifth consecutive campaign — were unable to get anything going on offense in the second half, falling to John Carroll 22-14 at Dafford Smith Stadium.
The Class 5A No. 9 Purple and Gold finish the season with a 9-2 record. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, captured their first postseason victory since 2004.
“We had some opportunities at certain moments, but we didn’t capitalize on them,” Fairview coach George Redding said. “We gave up some third- and fourth-down conversions that allowed them to keep drives alive and kept our defense on the field. But I’m super proud of how we fought and how hard we played.
“It just wasn’t our night.”
A pair of early turnovers — an interception and a fumble — helped the Cavaliers build a 9-0 advantage at the 8:00 mark of the first quarter following a 28-yard field goal by Charles Farr and an 8-yard touchdown pass from Carson McFadden to Zach Archer.
The Aggies got on the board later in the stanza on a 4-yard touchdown run by Carson Jones and that score held until McFadden and Archer hooked up once again — this scoring connection came from 15 yards out — to extend the lead for John Carroll (9-2) back to nine (16-7) with 8:36 left in the first half.
Fairview continued to scratch and claw, though, moving the ball deep into Cavaliers territory on its ensuing possession before punctuating the drive with a 16-yard TD pass from Kolt Redding to Gannon Black.
After forcing a fumble on defense, the Aggies had a chance to claim the lead entering halftime but bobbled the snap on a field goal attempt and — despite completing a pass for a first down — ran out of time prior to getting off another play.
Neither squad mustered much offense in the second half until Archer found the end zone for a third time in the game, scoring from 35 yards out to put the Cavaliers ahead 22-14 with 6:05 remaining.
Unfortunately for the Aggies, they couldn’t find any late-game magic.
Offensively, Jake Harper led the way with 192 yards on 28 carries. According to Redding, the sophomore broke a long run in the third quarter that could’ve resulted in a touchdown if not for his knee giving out and bringing him down. He later returned to the game.
Despite the earlier-than-desired loss, the longtime coach spoke with pride about this year’s group of Aggies.
“This team is tough,” Redding said. “And I’m not talking about just football. They’ve overcome a lot of adversity on and off the field this season.”