Crescent-News.com - Archbold holds high-flying Fairview offense in check

By KEVIN EIS
cnsports@crescent-news.com
SHERWOOD - For a game which was touted as a showdown between two highly prolific offenses, it was timely defensive plays which made all the difference on the scoreboard.
Not to mention enough penalties to give new meaning to the term "flag football."
Despite losing the yardage battle by nearly 140 yards, the Archbold defense rose to the occasion with several crucial stops and held on in a white-knuckle finish, outlasting Fairview 18-12 Friday evening at "The Reservation."
With the win, Archbold remains unscarred at 3-0 while the Apaches suffer their first loss of the year and fall to 2-1. Furthermore, the Streaks snapped Fairview's three-season winning streak in what was the eighth meeting between the two non-league rivals.
"Our defense played tremendous all night long," commented Blue Streaks' head coach John Downey, whose defense made a last-second stand at its own 5-yard line to seal the deal. "We bent but didn't break. Our offense sputtered but we got some good plays and got some points in the endzone. The bottom line is our kids showed a lot of heart and so did Fairview. Everybody left it out on the field."
Fairview mentor David Robinson praised the play of both teams after seeing his Apaches rack up 491 yards of total offense but fall short to the Blue Streaks' defensive effort.
"Don't take anything away from Archbold," stated the Fairview mentor. "What a classic battle between two schools, every game has been exactly like this one tonight. Archbold did a fantastic job. Coach Downey has a very classy program and it's an honor as a first-year head coach to play against a team that has the kind of class and integrity that he does."
Holding a slim 15-12 lead at the end of the third quarter, Archbold's defense shined in the final stanza by stopping the Apaches on three possessions, two of which were inside Archbold's own 10 yard line.
After a 37-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Aaron Bontrager gave the Blue Streaks a 18-12 lead with 5:01 left in the game, Fairview appeared to be spending its last chance with a seven-play drive orchestrated by senior quarterback James Elchinger. Led in the backfield by Drew Smith and Breon Price, the Blue Streaks' defense tightened up to stop the Fairview drive and take over with 2:41 showing on the clock and the ball at their own 25.
Needing to just run the ball and waste the clock, senior running back Jake Fidler lost control of the ball on the second play of the drive and the Apaches regained possession when John Elchinger fell on the ball at the Archbold 42 to give Fairview another chance at the win.
"I'm very proud of my kids," lauded Robinson. "They fought and battled and scraped and clawed and did everything that they needed to do and got us the ball back at the end of the game."
"We had a costly fumble," noted Downey. "I know (Fidler's) heart would have been bleeding all season if we would have lost this ballgame because he's a tremendous competitor. That was just an unfortunate fumble and fortunately our defense was able to step up and save the day for him."
After an Archbold personal foul, two passes of six and eight yards to Wonderly and a six yard keeper by Elchinger drove the Apaches to the 5 with 17 ticks left on the clock. The Fairview signal caller then attempted to find Wonderly in the end zone, but a tipped pass brought fourth down and inches. At first, it appeared there was a pass interference call on the Blue Streaks which would have given the Apaches a first down at the 3. But after an officials' conference, the flag was waved off and Archbold regained possession.
Streaks' quarterback David Rupp then took a knee as the clock wound down, giving Archbold the win.
In a game where penalty flags were flying nearly as much as the football, the Apaches were flagged 14 times for 127 yards while Archbold was called for 12 miscues for 100 yards.
"You're not supposed to criticize the officials, but I didn't see half of those penalties, not only on our side but on (Fairview's) side," said Downey. "But the last penalty, the white hat clearly signaled a tipped ball so we called a time out. It was clearly the right call because there can't be pass interference on a tipped ball."
Following a scoreless first quarter, Fairview got on the board when Elchinger hit Wonderly for a 10-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the second stanza. However, two consecutive penalties forced the Apaches to go for two points from the 25 yard line and the pass failed, leaving the score 6-0.
Archbold retaliated on its next possession with a drive of seven plays for 52 yards. The scoring drive was capped on a six yard bolt by Fidler with 8:25 left in the half. Bontrager made good on the ensuing kick to give the Streaks a 7-6 lead which held into halftime.
Elchinger led the Apaches with 32-of-50 passing for 401 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also leading the rushing attack with 85 yards on 25 carries.
Wonderly was the leading receiver with 173 yards and two touchdowns while Webb had nine catches for 162 yards.
Fidler led the Archbold offense with 164 yards rushing on 23 attempts while Rupp connected on 6-of-10 passing attempts for 164 yards and no interceptions.

ARCHBOLD FAIRVIEW
First Downs 11 24
Rushing Yards 32-186 27-90
Passing yards 165 401
Total offense 351 491
Passes Attempted 10 51
Passes Completed 6 32
Had Intercepted 0 0
Fumbles 1 0
Fumbles Lost 1 0
Yards Penalized 12-100 14-127

Archbold 0 7 5 3 - 18
Fairview 0 6 6 0 - 12
Fairview - Wonderly 10-yard pass from Ja. Elchinger (Pass failed).
Archbold - Fidler 6-yard run (Bontrager kick).
Fairview - Wonderly 6-yard pass from Ja. Elchinger (Pass failed).
Archbold - Fidler 23-yard run (Rupp run).
Archbold - Bontrager 37-yard field goal.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Archbold - Fidler 23-164; Rupp 9-22. Fairview - Ja. Elchinger 25-85; Webb 1-5.
PASSING: Archbold - Rupp 6-10-0-165. Fairview - Ja. Elchinger 32-50-0-401; Wonderly 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Archbold - Westrick 1-68; Dominique 1-60; Price 4-37. Fairview - Wonderly 18-173; Webb 9-162; Jo. Elchinger 3-41; Woenker 3-25.