Fairmont Firebirds Football Newsletter Is Published Weekly

Springfield topples Fairmont in rematch

By Jeff Gilbert, Dayton Daily News Contributing Writer 11/4/18 One week ago Springfield walked off the turf at Evans Stadium wondering what went wrong. They had just lost 14-7 to Fairmont in a game they expected to win. “Last week we came in and ‘it’s going to be a walk in the park’ because they got beat by Centerville the week before that,” said Wildcats junior running back Tavion Smoot. “And they shocked us. This week we came to practice focused.” Oct 2018 Volume 2 And this Friday night the Wildcats defeated Fairmont 19-14 for their Inside Issue 12 first playoff victory since 2010. The defense stopped a frantic drive by the Firebirds on a freshman safety Delian Bradley’s interception of a long Back to Back! 3 halfback pass at the 3-yard line with two seconds left. “We started grasping for things at that point,” said Fairmont coach Playoff Action 4-6 Dave Miller, whose team runs the triple–option and rarely throws. “We Playoff Statistics 7-10 practice them but it’s hard when your main focus is what we do. You just can’t let yourself get in that situation.” Scoring Summary 11 Next up in Division I, Region 3 for the fourth-seeded Wildcats (9-2) Drive Chart 12 is top-seeded Hilliard Davidson (10-1), a 28-21 winner against Wayne. Play by Play 13-17 “I’m happy, but we’re not satisfied with this win,” senior quarterback RaHeim Moss said. “We’ve got to come in (Saturday) and watch Senior Class 18-20 film and see what we did good and what we did wrong. And then come in Firebird Nation 21 Monday and get ready for Hilliard Davidson.” Fifth-seeded Fairmont (7-4) also beat Springfield in the final game Great Season ! 22-23 of 2017 to keep the Wildcats out of the playoffs. OHSAA Playoffs 24-25 “They listened to their coaches and did what we told them to do, “ Wildcats coach Maurice Douglass said. “They did a good job this week of Newsletter Thanks 26 focusing on the task at hand.” Springfield’s defense stuck with some of the things in the first half

Continued on Next Page

www.firebirdathletics.com (Continued from Front Page):

that it did last week against Fairmont. But a 15-play touchdown drive and a big-play touchdown– a 38 yard touchdown run by Jesse Deglow - left the Wildcats trailing 14-13 at half-time. Douglass said they went back to a more comfortable scheme in the second half, which led to three turnovers and three punts. Springfield opened with a 14-play drive and overcame a third-and-30 situation to take a 7-0 lead on Smoot’s 5-yard run. Then Moss scored on a 59-yard touchdown run, but the extra point bounced off the left upright for a 13-7 lead. The Wildcats took the lead early in the fourth quarter after senior safety Moses Douglass forced a fumble recovered by TyAren Brown. Jeff Tolliver ran for 51 yards on the Wildcats’ next play to set up Smoot’s 12-yard touchdown run with 11:25 left in the game. Smoot rushed for 108 yards on 20 carries. Miller had a long talk with his team after the game before going around the locker room to hug and encourage his 17 seniors. “It’s gut-wrenching - hearts are breaking,” Miller said of those moments with each player, many of them second and third year starters. “But it has to come to an end at some point. We didn’t like the way it ended, but we lost to a really good team.” In his third year, Miller led the Firebirds to consecutive playoff trips for the first time. Their only previous playoff appearance was in 2008. “They established a legacy and have a lot to be proud of,” Miller said. “Hopefully these young guys can follow and take the mantle and move on with it.”

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 2 Back to Back Playoff Years

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 3 Playoff Action

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 4 Playoff Action

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 5 Playoff Action

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 6 Playoff Statistics

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 7 Offensive Stats

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 8 Defensive Stats

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 9 Kicking Statistics

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 10 Scoring Summary

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 11 F Drive Chart F

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 12 Playoff Play by Play

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 13 Playoff Play by Play

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 14 Playoff Play by Play

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 15 Playoff Play by Play

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 16 Playoff Play by Play

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 17 Thank You Seniors

Marqies Williams Ryan Hill Tre Brennan

Kahill Jones-Whitaker Braden Miller Andrew Murray

Jesse Deglow Aaron Jackson Hunter Sanders

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 18 Thank You Seniors

Vere Mason Chase Fugate Jonas Smith

Connor Bunts Jonathan Fuller Patrick Roncagli

Isaac Bennett Jacob Childers Asher Rohm

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 19 Good Luck Seniors

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 20 Firebird Nation

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 21 Great Season !

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 22 Great Season !

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 23

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 24

Volume 1 www.elksfootball.com/qbclubwww.firebirdathletics.com Page 25 NEWSLETTER

The Fairmont Firebirds football newsletter is published weekly. The goal is an attempt to capture all of the excitement of Friday Night Lights. This newsletter could not be published without a great team of people. The members are listed below and we thank them for their efforts!

PHOTOGRAPHY PROVIDED GRAPHICS PROVIDED BY: WEBSITE UPLOAD: Gene Peters George Reinke Frank Baxter

STATISTICS PROVIDED: FOOTBALL SUPPORT: ADMINISTRATION SUPPORT: Patrick Bretelson Dave Miller Sondra Whaley Jim & Cathy Siewe Chris Weaver

Firebird Newsletter Publisher Jim Ehrensberger Any questions or comments please contact Jim [email protected]