FAIRBORN — The Fairborn Skyhawks made first-year coach Randy Kerns’ debut a memorable one on Friday, Aug. 30 at a jam-packed Fairborn Memorial Stadium. Fairborn scored early and often in a 36-0 win over visiting Tecumseh.
Three of Fairborn’s five touchdowns scored ended up being fumble recoveries in the end zone after an offensive play, and two of those end zone recoveries came in the opening quarter. The Skyhawks led 20-0 after one quarter of action, and continued to score in each subsequent quarter as well.
Not even two minutes into Friday’s season opener, quarterback Garison Secrest put the Skyhawks into the end zone from eight yards out, fumbled, then saw teammate Lamar Collins pounce on the loose ball for the score.
With 6:41 left in the first quarter, Secrest connected with running back Hunter Warner for a score, but fumbled, but fellow Skyhawk Jaden Bush recovered the ball in the end zone for the second score of the night.
Less than two minutes later, Secrest connected with Patrick Parrish for a 37-yard touchdown pass. And Aiden Johnson extra point later, and the Skyhawks were in command with a 20-0 first-quarter lead.
Fairborn’s final score of the first half came when Secrest fumbled into the end zone again. This time, Jackson Coolman fell on the football to score. Johnson hit his third of four extra point tries for the half, and the Skyhawks were out in front 27-zip at halftime.
A Hunter Warner 28-yard TD run roughly two minutes into the second half gave Fairborn a 33-0 lead. Ohio High School Athletic Association rules allow for a running clock once one team has amassed 30 or more points in a game, and so the second half went by pretty quickly.
Fairborn’s Johnson did find time to show off his kicking leg, however. With 10:13 remaining in the game, Johnson booted a 40-yard field goal with plenty of room to spare, for the final score of the night.
Secrest finished with 164 yards passing on 11 completions and 17 attempts. Warner led all rushers with 72 yards gained on the ground on nine carries. Gage Barron was the main recipient of Secrest’s passes, snaring six of them for 78 yards.
Fairborn amassed 262 total yards in offense on 42 plays, while Tecumseh finished with 150 yards for the game on 43 plays.
Both teams will face Greene County area opponents next week in the second week of the 2019 season. Tecumseh (0-1) out of the Central Buckeye Conference heads to Riverside to play Carroll in the first official football game at Spoerl-Bartlett Field at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6. Fairborn (1-0) heads over to Greene County foe Bellbrook for a 7 p.m. game that same day.
Score by Quarters
Tecumseh 0 0 0 0 — 0
Fairborn 20 7 6 3 — 36
Scoring Plays
FB — Lamar Collins offensive fumble recovery in end zone (Kick failed)
FB — Jaden Bush offensive fumble recovery in end zone (Aiden Johnson kick)
FB — Patrick Parrish 37 pass from Garison Secrest (Johnson kick)
FB — Jackson Coolman offensive fumble recovery in end zone (Johnson kick)
FB — Hunter Warner 38 run (kick failed)
FB — Johnson 40-yard field goal
Records: Fairborn (1-0); Tecumseh (0-1).
