By Greg Keim
This week has been a lot of fun for Fairfield High School football coach Bob Miller.
Last Friday night, the Falcons captured the program’s first-ever sectional title in dramatic fashion as 6-2 (180) junior quarterback Chase Pinion connected with 6-2 (170) junior receiver Tanner Foust on a game-tying touchdown pass with 0:05 to play.
Junior Derek Vogelzang then booted the game-winning PAT as the Falcons trimmed the Bremen Lions 28-27.
“I have heard from a lot of people with whom I’ve crossed paths over the years,” Miller said. “It has gone from former players to administrators who were here when I started teaching.”
Fairfield (10-2) squares off with the Rensselaer Bombers (10-2) Friday night in a Class 2A regional game at Rensselaer. Kickoff is 8 (our time).
The schools have never met in football.
If Fairfield wins, the Falcons would either host Lewis Cass or travel to Fort Wayne Luers for a semistate game Friday, Nov. 20.
Miller, 1982 Fairfield graduate, has been involved in the Falcon program for 27 years, two as a player, 17 as an assistant coach and the last eight as head coach.
The sectional victory was a milestone for Miller as he tied 1975 Goshen High School graduate Jim Jones as the winningest football coach (54 victories) in FHS history.
“There were a lot of former Falcon players on the field last week enjoying this with the current ones,” Miller said. “This is a great atmosphere and the community support has been great. I grew up here and seeing support like this for our program is among reasons why I stayed. I’m proud to be a part of it.”
The Rensselaer Bombers have regular season wins over Kankakee Valley 34-7, North Newton 60-7, North Judson 13-6, Twin Lakes 22-20, Delphi 47-0, Sheridan 33-6 and Benton Central 42-0. Losses were to Tipton 21-7 and West Lafayette 21-7.
Rensselaer won its sectional title by defeating Seeger 20-14, Bowman Academy 64-6 and Wheeler 21-18.
It was Rensselaer’s seventh sectional crown. The Bombers have never won a regional.
“We like to mix things up on offense,” said Bomber Coach Chris Meeks who has an 83-47 record in 11 seasons at the school.
“We have a quarterback (6-2, 180, junior Nick Green) who has thrown for over 1,000 yards, a tailback (5-11, 185, senior Justin Bohannon) who has rushed for over 1,000 and a fullback (5-10, 200, senior Ben Ahler) who has rushed for over 600.
“We also use different formations. At times we are in an I, some times we use the wing and other times we are in a shotgun spread.”
Bohannon carried the ball a career-high 46 times for 231 yards and a touchdown in the sectional title game. Green tossed a TD pass and ran for another score.
“Rensselaer is a very physical team which likes to pound that ball at you between the tackles,” Miller said.
The Bombers also posted a come-from-behind sectional victory, scoring 21 straight points after trailing previously unbeaten Wheeler 12-0.
Fairfield has never played for a regional championship.
Previous seasons were ended by Jimtown (40-7 in the 2006 sectional final), Jimtown (35-27 in a sectional semifinal in 2007) and Fort Wayne Luers (44-14 a year ago in a semi).
Both Jimtown and Harding moved up to 3A this season while Luers was shifted to another 2A sectional.
“One of the things we have talked to the kids about is how playing Jimtown, Luers and Harding the last few years has gotten us ready for this,” Miller said.
The Falcons also like to run the ball and have outrushed opposing teams 2,574 to 1,529 yards.
Five-eleven (160) junior tailback Darin Hochstetler leads the running game with 1,001 yards on 148 carries (6.8 average) followed by 5-11 (195) senior fullback Micah Noble 887 on 149 (6.0).
The Falcons are also capable of throwing the ball as Pinion has completed 46-of-113 passes for 948 yards. He has 14 TDs and nine interceptions.
Foust is the prime target with 30 catches for 926 yards (30.9 average) and 19 scores.
“Winning the line of scrimmage is going to be a key for us,” Miller said. “We are not going to win every battle, but in the end we have to win the war.
“I think at times last week some of the kids got frustrated when things didn’t go our way. We told them this is a sectional championship and it’s not supposed to be easy.
“Coming back to win like we did should be a confidence boost for the team. We showed what we are capable of doing.”
Noble leads Falcon defenders with 63 tackles and 103 assists, followed by 6-1 (160) sophomore Brad Newcomer 26 and 58, 6-0 (200) senior Doug Beiler 25 and 45.
“Fairfield has become an excellent 2A program since Coach Miller has taken over,” Meeks said. “They are one of the up-and-coming 2A programs in the state, but we think we are another one. It’s really a battle between two teams which mirror each other.”
