BOAZ, Ala. – Fairview made the trip over to Sardis for a non-region matchup Friday night and the Lions gave the Aggies all they could handle. Sardis jumped out to a 13-0 lead and scored just before halftime to take a 26-20 lead at the break. Fairview led 41-33 in the final minute of the game, but the Lions scored with 51 seconds on the clock to make it a 2-point game. Sardis went for the two-point conversion to tie the game, but the Lions’ pass was knocked away by Adyen Batz and the Aggies held on to win it 41-39.
Sardis wasted no time getting on the board in this one, stringing together some big plays and scoring on its opening possession to take a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter. After a Fairview punt, the Lions ran one into the end zone from 35 yards out to extend their lead to 13-0 with 3:30 to play in the period. The Aggies answered the early onslaught at the start of the second quarter when running back Jake Harper punched one into the end zone from 7 yards out for a touchdown to trim the lead to 13-7.
After forcing Sardis to punt on the ensuing possession, the Aggie offense went back to work. A 20-yard run by quarterback Kolt Redding moved the ball into Sardis territory and Harper found the end zone a couple of plays later to tack on six more points and tie the game at 13 with seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Lions continued to hit explosive plays, scoring on a 44-yard run to move back in front 20-13 with three minutes to play in the second quarter.
A big run by Rex Chandler and a big gain on a pass to Jace Stevens put the Aggies in the red zone on the ensuing possession and Harper ran in his third touchdown of the night, this time from 25 yards out, to tie things up at 20 with just over a minute remaining in the half. However, the Lions took advantage of another big play to get down to the 5-yard line with just a few ticks on the clock and threw a touchdown pass in the final seconds of the period to take a 26-20 lead into the locker room at the break.
The Aggies did not get off to a great start in the third quarter, throwing an interception and allowing another quick Sardis touchdown to fall behind 33-20. However, Fairview put together a nice drive on the ensuing possession and capped it off with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Redding to Conner Scott, trimming the lead to 33-27 midway through the third. After a Sardis punt, Harper broke free for a 50-yard touchdown run, his fourth of the night, to give Fairview its first lead of the game at 34-33 with two minutes to play in the third quarter.
Ayden Batz made his first big play of the night on the next Lions possession, intercepting a pass and returning it to the 2-yard line to create a great scoring opportunity for Fairview. Harper punched in his fifth touchdown of the night just two plays later, to make it a 41-33 game with nine minutes remaining. Sardis wasn’t ready to lay down yet. The Lions put together a scoring drive late in the fourth quarter and found the end zone on a 10-yard touchdown pass with just 51 seconds on the clock. But when Sardis went for two, Batz came up with another big play, swatting the Lions’ pass away to secure a 41-39 road win for the Aggies.
Fairview (8-0) will travel to East Limestone for a region game next week.
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