FAIRPORT HARBOR — Even through a winless season with his young football team a year ago, Fairport coach John Lipps found a silver lining amongst all the growing pains.
“No matter how bad things got last year, our kids never quit,” Lipps said. “I told them that if they played hard, it would pay dividends for them in the future.”
Those dividends paid off in a big way in Friday night’s 39-27 victory over visiting Grand Valley as a kickoff to Alumni Weekend in Fairport. The Skippers (3-1) are not only exciting their community with their play, but also making their coach’s words ring true.
Grand Valley, which trailed 18-14 at the half, came out of the locker room and gained some momentum.
Tom Henson’s crew held Fairport on downs on the opening possession. The Mustangs immediately went on a 10-play, 55-yard scoring drive with Rich Sacerich scoring on a 6-yard run, giving his team a 21-18 lead.
But Fairport showed the experience gained last year was valuable.
The Skippers, with the help of a personal foul penalty on the Mustangs, immediately gained the lead back on a Danny Ward to Mark Burchett 25-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the third quarter.
“I saw man-press coverage,” Ward said. “They were brining their linebackers with that look. We were in an empty formation. I saw the clock winding down and Mark running down the sideline, so I figured I might as well just throw it up.”
Fairport then turned in two big defensive plays that took the wind out of Grand Valley’s sails. On consecutive possessions, senior Bobby Roberti (44 yards) and sophomore Aramis Greenwood (65 yards) returned interceptions for touchdowns.
“I told (Greenwood) to play back and wait,” Fairport’s Tim Knotts, who led the Skippers with 111 yards rushing, said. “They were kind of just throwing the ball up there. I knew he would get one.”
“I knew they were going to throw it deep,” Greenwood said. “I caught it and just took off. The whole team made some great blocks for me.”
Greewood also scored on a 52-yard lateral in the first half in which he caught the ball on the right side and reversed field on his run.
“He’s been doing that since peewee football,” Ward said of Greenwood’s lateral run.
Henson, whose team is searching for its first win this year, was disappointed how his team handled adversity in the second half. Despite the play of Sacerich (141 yards rushing, 96 yards passing), the Mustangs made too many costly mistakes.
“We need to get mentally tougher,” he said. “No matter what happens out there, you can’t get 15-yard penalties and just throw the ball up when nothing is there.
“We came out in the second half and played great defense, then took the ball right down the field,” Henson added. “We played hard and took it at them. Then we made silly mistakes, lost our focus, and didn’t play hard. Fariport just outplayed us.”
The Skippers are enjoying their success.
“It’s a great feeling,” Lipps said. “These are the same kids we had last year, plus a couple of new players this year. They are used to playing Friday night football now. Things are falling in place with our experience now.”
“This feels incredible,” Knotts said. “Fairport hasn’t had something like this since 2004. We are enjoying the moment and got ourselves ready for this. We want to keep it going.”
Negin is a freelance writer from Madison.
Sports
Mustangs fall in shootout
Improved Fairport tops GV
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Scholastic Statistics:
WRESTLING
NON-CONFERENCE
Riverside 31, Edgewood 28
at Edgewood -
Scholastic Schedule:
FRIDAY, FEB. 10
Boys Basketball
n Lakeside at Madison
n Conneaut at Edgewood
n Liberty at Jefferson (WFUN)
n South at Geneva
n PV at Bloomfield
n Grand Valley at Southington
n Riverside at North
n Harvey at Perry -
PV prevails
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The pair delivered exactly that and the Lakers pulled off the win, 37-36. -
Eagles bounce back
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