An interception by Eli Oliger with two minutes remaining appeared to have the Kingston Redskins on the brink of giving Fairview its first loss in three years. The Yellowjackets however showed why they have the state’s longest winning streak.
Thevisitorsdrove64yards with just 91 seconds remaining, utilizing a Kingston pass interference penalty on 4th-and-10 to rally for a 35-28 victory and their 32nd straight win.
Standout senior quarterback Jax Bernard lived up to his billing, winning it for Fairview with a 38-yard scoring toss with 39 seconds left to erase Kingston’s 28-27 edge.
It was a spectacular effort by the Redskins nonetheless and they will look to get back on track this week at home against Comanche for Homecoming with a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
Bernard put Fairview in front with a four-yard touchdown toss in the first quarter before Reid Patterson answered for the Redskins with a 38-yard scoring pass of his own to Oliger with just 37 seconds remaining in the first period. That capped a 64-yard scoring drive.
Followingadefensivestop, Kingston took its first lead of the game on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Patterson to Todd Jones. That was set up by a beautifully designed 31-yard screen pass to Parks Ratzlaff.
Fairview responded with consecutive scores on fiveand eight-yard runs by Bernard, cashing in a pair of short punts for a 21-14 lead at intermission.
Oliger came up big with his first interception of the night early in the second half, giving the Redskins the ball deep in Fairview territory at the 35 yard line. That set up a 25-yard touchdown burst from Ratzlaff to tie the game at 21.
That’s how it remained until Kingston retook the lead on a 21-yard Patterson scoring toss to Jones with 9:28 left in the game.
Fairview again immediately answered in just 76 seconds, driving for a Bernard 14-yard touchdown run but botched the extra point to leave the Redskins in front.
Kingston appeared to be driving for a clinching score before stalling on downs at theFairview 21 to come away empty.
The Redskins got it back on the Oliger pick at the Kingston 35 with two minutes left but had to punt it back after Fairview utilized all its timeouts, setting the stage for the winning drive.
Patterson finished the game 15 of 25 through the air for 213 yards and three touchdownswithJonessnagging five of those passes for 75 yards and the two scores. Oliger caught four passes for 64 yards while Ratzlaff added three receptions for 53 yards to go along with 91 yards rushing on 17 carries.
“Looking back I probably should have been a little more aggressive with the ball and the lead,” Kingston head coach Brad Hill stated. “Hindsight is 20-20 though. The kids played well enough to win. We just needed a first down to win the game and couldn’t get it. Hats off to Fairview though. Their seniors have lost one high school game their entire career, but we were in position to beat them.
“I am very proud of our effort. I thought our assistant coaches put together a tremendous game plan that the kids executed and gave us a chance to win the game. We very well could be 2-0. If we continue to get better each week, we will be a very good football team. Comanche is playing well and will be another tough opponent. We just need to make sure we are better this week than last week.”