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16th-seed Fairmont Senior claims W.Va. AA title

Cody Nespor FINDING SPACE — Fairmont Senior running back Germaine Lewis slips past Independence defender Atticus Goodson (3) during Friday night’s Class AA state title game.

WHEELING — Despite their record and playoff seeing, Fairmont Senior proved they are still the team to beat in Class AA as they took down Independence 21-12 Friday night to claim their third state championship.

After a 5-4 regular season, Fairmont Senior just made the playoffs as the No. 16 seed and then made a postseason run that culminated in another state title at Wheeling Island Stadium.

“It comes back to perseverance from our guys, a bunch of teenagers, with what they battled through,” said coach Nick Bartic. “I’m really proud of them.”

Their opponent Friday was No. 2 seed Independence, which enjoyed its best season of football in over three decades.

“To do all the things that’ve never been done in the history of the school and to go undefeated for the first time since 1986, that’s some special stuff,” said coach John Lilly. “To win three playoff games at home, when they’ve never won a playoff game since 1986, we don’t have anything to be ashamed about.”

Going into Friday’s title game, the Patriots paid no mind to the Polar Bears’ record or where they were seeded.

“We didn’t pay any attention to that stuff,” Lilly said. “Everybody knew that they were better than a 16-seed, there wasn’t any surprise in our room. To us, they were the state champs and they’re the state champs until somebody beats them.”

The Polar Bears and Patriots were locked in a defensive slugfest early on in Friday’s contest. The first quarter passed with no scoring as the first seven possessions of the game ended in punts.

Then, the offenses came alive in the second quarter. The Polar Bears struck first as quarterback Dom Stingo found receiver Evan Dennison for a 59-yard scoring strike and a 7-0 lead.

The Patriots also broke out on the following possession as quarterback Logan Phalin hit Trey Bowers for their own 59-yard touchdown pass. The point-after attempt was missed, however, and Fairmont still led 7-6.

Keeping the momentum going, the Polar Bears’ next drive traveled the length of the field and finished with running back Germaine Lewis hurdling into the endzone from two yards out for a 14-6 lead.

The teams traded interceptions to end the half and that score held into the break.

“I thought our offense stayed the course,” Bartic said. “We had drives, we made mistakes but we came back, and the defense didn’t get rattled when they made some big plays.”

Fairmont Senior was able to keep Independence’s imposing offense in check by doing something very few teams managed this season, limiting the effectiveness of running back Atticus Goodson.

Goodson, the Patriots’ Kennedy Award candidate, carried the ball 14 times for just 51 yards in the first half.

The third quarter started off reminiscent of the first, with the defenses taking center stage. Independence intercepted Stingo on Fairmont’s first drive, but were later sacked on a third down attempt and punted back to the Polar Bears. Fairmont subsequently drove most of the way down the field, only to turn the ball over on downs at the 24-yard line.

That is when the Patriots’ running game finally came alive. With Goodson taking a breather on the sideline, Judah Price took a pitch left along the sideline 48 yards into the endzone to make it 14-12 and give Independence a chance to tie with a two-point conversion. The Patriots attempted a handoff to Goodson on the try, but Fairmont’s defenders were there to make the stop and preserve their lead.

“We practice two-point plays a lot,” Bartic said. “That was just execution from our guys being in the right gaps.”

In need of a response, Lewis scooped up Independence’s squib kick on the ensuing kickoff and took it all the way down to the Patriot’s 38-yard line. On the very first play of the drive, Lewis took a handoff right and cut all the way back left across the field and went the entire 38 yards to the house to increase their lead to 21-12.

Lewis finished with 114 rushing yards and two touchdowns and was named Fairmont’s MVP of the game. Stingo completed 15 passes for 174 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Both Dennison (5-89) and Kayson Nealy (6-81) finished with over 80 receiving yards.

Defensively, Kruzel led the Patriots with 10 tackles and Toothan led with 3.5 tackles for loss. Nealy intercepted a pass by Goodson on defense.

For Independence, Goodson had a good second half to finish with 129 yards and was named the team’s MVP.

“I think everybody saw what kind of player he is,” Lilly said of Goodson. “We think he’s the best player in the state and I’m just glad that everybody around the state got to see him play. Sometimes we’re stuck down south and everybody doesn’t get to see him. I think Independence had a good showing here, we just came up short.”

Phalin completed three passes for 56 yards and a touchdown. Price ran for 60 yards and a score.

On defense, Price led the team with nine tackles and had an interception. Goodson had the other interception of Stingo and Jordan Harvey led with two tackles for loss.

“There’s no losers in the state championship, just one team won,” Lilly said. “All we have to worry about is getting back to work here in a couple of weeks and making it back here to try and win one.”

Fairmont Senior 21, Independence 12

F 0 14 7 0 — 21

I 0 6 6 0 — 12

F — Dennison pass 59 from Stingo (Longwell kick)

I — Bowers pass 59 from Phalin (kick miss)

F — Lewis run 2 (Longwell kick)

I — Price run 46 (run failed)

F — Lewis run 38 (Longwell kick)

RUSHING: F 31-124-2td (Lewis 13-114-2td, Ours 5-15, Tasker 2-9, Dennison 1-7, Stingo 6-(-18)). I 40-205-1td (Goodson 26-129, Price 7-60-1td, Phalin 1-(-2)).

PASSING: F 16-28 213-1td-2int (Stingo 15-27 174-1td-1int, Dennison 1-1 39). I 4-12 70-1td-1int (Phalin 3-10 56-1td, Bowers 1-1 14, Goodson 0-1 1int).

RECEIVING: F 16-213-1td (Nealy 6-81, Dennison 5-89-1td, Lewis 2-15, Ours 2-17, Dalton 1-3). I 4-70-1td (Bowers 2-50-1td, C. Goodson 2-5).

FIRST DOWNS: F 16. I 12.

PENALTIES-YARDS: F 7-50. I 5-50.

FUMBLES-LOST: F 2-0. I 1-1.

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