Photos and Story By Sean McNamara
WESTON – Following a 2022 campaign that saw the defending champion Polar Bears bounced from the playoffs by Independence, Fairmont Senior looked to get off to a good start to the 2023 season on the road at Lewis County.
Fairmont Senior did just that Friday against the Minutemen, racing past Lewis County, 42-0, to open the season 1-0.
The Polar Bears got things started early as Dylan Ours scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns, the first coming on a 1-yard run to cap off a nine-play opening drive, and the second coming on a 65-yard punt return for a touchdown.
With touchdowns on the ground and on special teams already in the books, Fairmont Senior found two new ways to score in the second quarter as Brody Whitehair connected on a 24-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Michael and Damani Johnson intercepted Lewis County quarterback Bryant Zielinski and raced 64 yards for a pick-six.
“I feel like in all three phases our guys were competent in what they were supposed to be doing,” FSHS coach Nick Bartic said.
At the half, Fairmont Senior led 28-0 despite running 16 fewer plays than the Minutemen.
“You can’t give a team like that big plays,” LC coach Dustin Cogar said. “The big pass, I thought we were in good position, but he made a great play on the ball. In the first half you have a punt return for a touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown. You can’t give momentum to a team like that.”
While the Lewis County defense, which did see Grant Acord intercept Whitehair to end the first half, gave up yardage and points to FSHS throughout the game, a running attack led by Brayden Carder helped the Minutemen control time of possession and keep the Polar Bears off the field.
“They had a good gameplan of maintaining possession,” Bartic said. “Their offensive line has a lot of size. They use that to their advantage. They have a big running back, and they’re using the middle in different ways. They had a couple lengthy drives, really we were fortunate early to make stops. We had a bend-don’t-break style in the first half that allowed us to build on the lead.”
Carder had 81 yards in the first half on the ground and 128 by the game’s end, but that bend-but-don’t-break mentality allowed Fairmont Senior to maintain the shutout throughout the game.
The Polar Bears added two more touchdowns in the second half as Ours scored his second 1-yard rushing touchdown of the game in the third quarter, and Chris Wilson scored on a 9-yard run in the fourth.
Cam Peschl was a perfect 6-for-6 on PATs in the game as FSHS cruised to the 42-0 win.
Offensively for FSHS, Whitehair completed 8-of-13 passes for 186 yards, one touchdown and one interception while rushing for a team-high 46 yards. His top target was Cannon Dinger who caught five passes for 108 yards, while also intercepting a pass on defense.
Navaughn Jones collected one catch for 38 yards while Michael had 24 receiving yards and Ours had 15 receiving yards to go along with 30 yards on the ground.
For Lewis County, in addition to Carder’s 128 yards, Drew Cayton ran for 26 yards and Owen Acord ran for 15 yards. Zielinski completed 2-of-6 passes for 16 yards with two interceptions.
In all, Lewis County ran 58 plays compared to 33 for the Polar Bears and had two more first downs than their opponent, but ultimately were unable to find the end zone.
Next up for the Polar Bears will be a home game against the Robert C. Byrd Eagles on Friday while Lewis County will look to rebound on the road at Braxton County.
FAIRMONT SENIOR 42 LEWIS COUNTY 0
Team Statistics
NM;EF
First Downs;12;14
Rushing Yards;103;167
Passing Yards;186;16
Total Yards;289;183
Passing;8-13-1;2-6-2
Fumbles;0;2
Fumbles Lost;0;0
Penalties;8-95;7-80
Individual Statistics
Rushing
FS: Dylan Ours 7-30 2 TD, Brody Whitehair 5-46, Damani Johnson 4-15, Chris Wilson 2-12 1 TD, Tarran Boda 1-5, TEAM 1-(-5), Totals 20-103. LC: Brayden Carder 20-128, Drew Cayton 9-26, Owen Acord 6-15, Bryant Zielinski 6-7, Aden Anderegg 1-1, Alex Goodwin 2-1, JP Alkire 1-0, Ian Brown 3-(-5), Eli Jones 1-(-6), TEAM 3-(-2) Totals 52-167.
Passing
FS: Brody Whitehair 8-13-1 186 yards 1 TD. LC: Bryant Zielinski 2-6-2 16 yards.
Receiving
FS: Cannon Dinger 5-108, Gavin Michael 1-24 1 TD, Navaughn Jones 1-38, Dylan Ours 1-15. LC: Grant Acord 1-9, Drew Cayton 1-7.
FS;;14;14;7;7;;42
LC;;0;0;0;0;;0
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
FS – Dylan Ours 1-yard run (Cam Peschl kick)
FS – Ours 65-yard punt return (Peschl kick)
Second Quarter
FS – Gavin Michael 24-yard pass from Whitehair (Peschl kick)
FS – Damani Johnson 64-yard interception return (Peschl kick)
Third Quarter
FS – Ours 1-yard run (Peschl kick)
Fourth Quarter
FS – Chris Wilson 9-yard run (Peschl kick)
