By John Bombatch
FAIRBORN — K.J. Redmon put himself in the record books on Friday night, and the host Fairborn Skyhawks got to put another figure in the wins column, after a convincing 53-12 Senior Night win over West Carrollton.
Redmon rushed for 303 yards on 16 carries, and the Skyhawks junior recorded scoring runs of 10, 40, 75 and 65 yards.
“If feels good that I was able to show off my offensive talents tonight,” Redmon said. “I’d like to thank my offensive line, first off. … And I give all the glory to God.”
By halftime, Redmon had gained 228 yards on 14 carries. He was 36 yards shy of the single-game record, and his teammates let him know it.
“They were telling me at halftime that I only needed 36 more yards. So on that first carry of the second half, I had to get it,” Redmon said. “It felt great to get it like that.”
The former Fairborn single-game rushing record had been 263 yards, set in 1981 by Kerry Reeser. Redmon eclipsed that on a 65-yard touchdown run down the West Carrollton sideline.
Moments after it was announced that Redmon had set a new Fairborn single-game rushing record, the 5-foot-10, 185-pounder was seen on the sidelines thanking his offensive linemen.
The confetti had hardly hit the soggy Fairborn Stadium turf and Skyhawks coach Chris Roark was already focusing on next week’s season finale on the road against Greater Western Ohio Conference rival Xenia.
“(Redmon’s record) was some good stuff, too, but we just want to keep getting better each week. We wanna get better each week, and we want to get one more win. The last time you take the field, that’s what you remember. You wanna try and go out on top with a final win,” Roark said. “It’s at arch-rival Xenia, I think both teams are a little bit better than what they’ve shown this season, so I think it’s gonna be a really good battle.”
Fairborn climbs to 2-7 overall, 2-1 in the GWOC’s American South division, while West Carrollton is now 1-8, 0-3 GWOC American South.
The Pirates’ Denver Franklin scored both of West Carrollton’s touchdowns. His first was on a 30-yard interception return for a score in the first half; the other came at the receiving end of a 12-yard toss from quarterback Tristan Dillon.
With all the Fairborn scoring going on — Redmon’s three TDs, two Brandon Easterling scores, a Leighton Mohr run, and an Auburn Rose run — freshman placekicker Keegan Dierker had a chance to get himself into the record books for most extra-point conversions in a single game.
Dierker had hit his first four, and later knocked in a PAT on Redmon’s next-to-last score, but he was unable to tie or surpass the mark of six in a game, currently shared by Frank Depore (1964) and Gunnar Stein (1971).
His final attempt to tie the record was blocked by a West Carrollton defensive lineman.
Score By Quarters
West Carrollton 0 6 0 6 — 12
Fairborn 21 20 12 0 — 53
Scoring Plays
F — Brandon Easterling 30 run (Keegan Dierker kick)
F — K.J. Redmon 10 run (Dierker kick)
F — Leighton Mohr 2 run (Dierker kick)
F — Redmon 40 run (Dierker kick)
WC — Denver Franklin 30 yard interception return (run failed)
F — Easterling 16 pass from Garrison Secrest (kick failed)
F — Redmon 75 run (Dierker kick)
F — Redmon 65 run (kick failed)
F — Auburn Rose 23 run (kick blocked)
WC — Franklin 12 pass from Tristan Dillon (pass failed)
