Mules Drop Third Straight; No Wiggle Room Left In Playoff Chase
Despite scoring 20 points in a five-minute stretch in the first quarter, Justin Townsend’s Fairfield Mules suffered their fourth loss in five weeks Friday at home, with the visiting Carmi Bulldogs pulling away to a 42-26 victory.
The Bulldogs were the first to dent the scoreboard but then the Mules bunched together three straight scored, which took a total of 302 seconds, to lead 20-6 after one quarter. That would be the high water mark, however, as the Bulldogs closed out the game on a 36-6 spurt, including a 22-0 advantage in the second quarter alone.
“It was a great first quarter, but we really have not played a complete game yet this season. I am just really disappointed with the way we closed out the game. When we needed to pull together, we pulled apart, and that is why we are sitting here at 1-4,” Coach Townsend said after the game.
Carmi was playing without Caleb Seibers, the league’s leading rusher. The senior Bulldog broke his leg on the final play of the game the week before. Into the tailback spot stepped junior back Noah Pollard. Kurt Simons’ ground attack never missed a beat. Pollard finished with 256 rushing yards and four touchdowns. That included the last two of the game, from 44 and 51 yards out to ice the game. Pollard was able to get downhill running behind what is possibly the best offensive line in the league, led by seniors Gavin Peyton and Nelson Rider.
Pollard also started the game with a 22-yard touchdown run in on Carmi’s opening drive, set up with good field position after a 68-yard kickoff return by Cade Allen. Pollard scored two plays later.
They Mules answered with a fury the rest of the first quarter, scoring on three straight possession to start the game. The first two came through the air. Jaylen Maners went 3-of-4 on the first possession, culminating with a 28-yard scoring pass to Jay Snyder with 7:16 to play in the first quarter.
Bronson Rilea had a sack and a forced fumble by Carmi quarter Landon Driscoll to set up the next score, which came at 4:53 when Manyers hit fullback Latrael Snyder for a wide open screen in the middle of the field.
The defense came up with another big play just four plays later, blocking a punt to set up another short field for the Mules’ offense, and they needed just one play to score again, with a 32-yard romp by Trey Mason for a 20-6 lead with 2:14 to play in the first quarter.
That would be the end of the good news for the Mules, however, as Carmi ripped off three straight scores of their own in the second quarter. Pollard scored six seconds into the second quarter to pull the Bulldogs back within six.
The Mules turned the ball over on downs, after line up to punt, getting a penalty and the going for it only to get stuff for a two-yard loss. That set up another scoring drive by Carmi, with Driscoll completing two passes on the play, including a 28-yard scoring throw to Allen.
Fairfield turned the ball over on a bad snap four plays later and Carmi capitalized on the turnover with an eight-play scoring drive aided by a pass interference penalty before a six-yard touchdown run by Andrew Dodgson for a 28-20 halftime lead.
The Mules pulled back within two in the third quarter, stringing together an 11-play drive. They threw the ball four of the first five plays, then ran it six straight times as they began to pick up chunk yardage. Mason got his second touchdown from three yards out. The two-point play was stuffed to prevent a tied game.
Carmi answered the challenge quickly, getting downhilli in the ground game, capped off by a 44-yard sprint by Pollard for a 36-26 lead with 4:07 to play in the third.
Driscoll picked off his quarterback counterpart on the next Mule possession, after an overthrow when the receiver slowed down on his route. Fairfield’s next possession also ended with an interception, when the receiver never looked back for the pass from Maners. That turnover, the third of the game for the Mules, set up the final score of the game, a 51-yard run by Pollard who closed out the game strong. He had all nine carries on the drive.
While it turned into another multi-score loss for Fairfield, their third straight, the underlying stats once again indicated a more tightly contested clash. Both teams had 17 first downs. The Bulldogs had just 33 more total yards (336-303). The time of possession difference was less than three minutes. The biggest difference came in the turnover margin, where the Mules were minus-two.
Mason led Fairfield’s ground attack with 67 yards and two touchdowns. Maners threw for 195 yards and two touchdowns, one each to the Snyder brothers.
The loss leaves the Mules with no wiggle room going forward, as one more loss would essentially eliminate them from playoff contention. The schedule does get better for that pursuit however. The first five opponents are a combined 18-7. The last four are 8-15.
The Mules are at Flora Friday. The Wolves are 3-2, 3-1 in BDC play.
“Our playoffs have officially started. We have to win out just to have a week 10 game. We are going to find out what we are made of the next four weeks,” Townsend said. “The game with Flora last year was a game we won and kind of got our season turned around, so let us see if we can do that again this year.”
Week 5 BDC Scores
Sesser-Valier 62, CZR 0
Hamilton Co. 26, Eldorado 0
Johnston City 46, Flora 6
Edwards Co. 2, Vienna 0 (forfeit)
BDC Records
Johnston City 5-0
Sesser-Valier 5-0
Carmi 4-1
Flora 3-2
Hamilton Co. 3-2
Fairfield 1-4
Eldorado 1-4
Edwards Co. 1-4
CZR 0-5
Week 6 Matchups
Fairfield at Flora
Carmi at CZR
Hamilton Co. at Johnston City
Sesser-Valier at Edwards Co.
Eldorado at Wesclin
1 2 3 4 F
Carmi (4-1) 6 22 8 6 42
Fairfield (1-4) 20 0 6 0 26
SCORING PLAYS
First Quarter
CWC—Noah Pollard 22-yard run (run failed), 11:01.
F—Jay Snyder 28-yard pass from Jaylen Maners (pass failed), 7:16.
F—Latrael Snyder 18-yard pass from Maners (Landon Harrelson pass from J. Snyder), 4:53
F—Trey Mason 32-yard run (run failed), 2:14.
Second Quarter
CWC—Pollard 15-yard run (Pollard run), 11:54.
CWC—Cade Allen 28-yard pass from Landon Driscoll (Pollard run), 6:03.
CWC—Andrew Dodgson 6-yard run (run failed), 1:17.
Third Quarter
F—Mason 3-yard run (run failed), 5:21.
CWC—Pollard 44-yard run (Pollard run), 4:07.
Fourth Quarter
CWC—Pollard 51-yard run (Driscoll run), 3:59.
F CWC
17 First Downs 17
25-108 Rushing 40-296
20-33-2 Pass-Att-Int 2-4-0
195 Passing Yards 40
303 Total Offense 336
5.2 Yards Per Play 7.6
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-1
3 Turnovers 1
4-30 Penalty 5-40
1-6 Punts-Ave. 3-25
22:39 Time of Possession 25:21
5-12 Third Downs 2-7
2-5 Fourth Down 1-2
RUSHING
F –Mason 11-67-2, L. Snyder 8-33, J. Snyder 4-8, Maners 1-0, Team 1-(-3). CWC –Pollard 25-256-4, Dodgson 9-52-1, Kale Wiggins 2-(-1), Driscoll 2-(-5), Trayton Vickers 1-(-6).
PASSING
F –Maners 20-33-195 (2 TD, 2 Int). CWC – Driscoll 2-4-40 (1 TD).
RECEIVING
F –Landon Harrelson 6-70. J. Snyder 3-47-1, Alek Couch 6-41, L. Snyder 2-29-1, Mason 3-8. CWC – Cade Allen 2-40.
DEFENSE
Solos-Assists—F—L. Snyder 8-2, Israel Sargent 4-3, Brayton Robertson 3-1, Couch 2-1, Trenton Mason 2-1, Trey Mason 2-3, Bronson Rilea 2-3, Vega Stanley 2-1, Miller Simpson 2-1, Eric Locke 1-3, Reily Titzer 1-0, Andrew Bittles 1-0, Logan Tullis 0-1. CWC— Pollard 7-2, Kale Wiggins 7-0, Kade Stockton 5-2, Gavin Peyton 5-1, Nelson Rider 5-0, Dodgson 5-0, Driscoll 4-0, Beck Huff 3-0, Allen 2-1, Vickers 2-1, Austin Owens 1-1.
Tackles For Loss—F—Rilea 2, Sargent 1, Locke 1, Couch .5, Stanley .5. CWC— Rider 3, Pollard 1, Peyton 1.
Sacks—F—Rilea 1. CWC—Owen 1.
Pass Deflections—F—Sargent 1, Milner 1.
Kickoffs—F—Couch 5-218.
Punting—F—Maners 1-6.
I Am Weez 