For one player, Alter senior defensive end Nolan Ogburn, the area’s traditional opener meant far more than football. The play he made at the end wasn’t just for his teammates and coaches or the Alter faithful. He possessed a far greater resolve.
This night, against an opponent he had yet to beat, was for his late grandfather.
That’s why Alter’s 28-21 victory and the breaking of a four-game losing streak to Fairmont meant more to Ogburn than anyone. A close second is teammate and best friend Wyatt Reifschneider. Together, they pulled a Jack Sawyer.
The scene was set after Alter quarterback Rod Owens capped a touchdown drive with a six-yard run to tie the score at 21 with 41 seconds left. That left Fairmont coach Dave Miller with a choice. Try to make something happen or settle for overtime.
Miller decided to take one shot at a big play. If it didn’t work, he would kill the clock and go to overtime. His quarterback, senior JJ Hill, took a three-step drop. Before Hill could throw, Ogburn crashed in on his backside and forced a fumble.
Reifschneider, the Knights’ middle linebacker, scooped the loose ball and ran as fast as he could for a 30-yard touchdown with 32 seconds left to give the Knights the lead, silencing the Fairmont side.
“I knew we needed a big play, and I was playing for something greater,” Ogburn said. “I was playing for my grandpa, who passed away last week. I just wanted to do it for him and put all my power and strength into that one play. Thank God I was able to have the opportunity to do that.”
That Reifschneider finished the play made it even better for Ogburn.
“That’s my best friend,” he said. “I’m so happy he was able to be the one to pick it up. I love him.”
Ogburn’s grandfather was Rick Dill. And it was Dill who hired Alter head coach Ed Domsitz as head coach at Northmont in 1988, a job Domsitz held for 11 years before returning to Alter. Dill encouraged his grandson to play for Domsitz, who is in his 50th season as a head coach.
Dill’s funeral is Friday. But Ogburn knew he had to play.
“I’m out here with a heavy heart, but I knew that my grandpa would’ve wanted me to play, wouldn’t want me to be sad,” he said. “He wanted me to be happy. He wanted me to go out there and lay it on the line for him. And I did that.”
Reifschneider saw Ogburn punch the ball loose, but in the moment he didn’t realize it was Ogburn.
“That was an amazing play,” Reifschneider said. “I saw it on the ground right in front of me. I just was trying to run as fast as I could. I thought I was going to get caught. It was electric.”
Domsitz has seen about everything in his 50 years, including big plays called back. He said he didn’t see Reifschneider cross the goal line because he was looking back to make sure there were no penalty flags.
“This is as big a win as we’ve had in a while,” Domsitz said. “Those are the kind of moments that will live with these kids forever. The seniors had never beaten Fairmont, so this is a real special evening for them.”
Miller knows he can’t win them all, but his decision to try to make a play instead of just going to overtime will stick with him.
“That last one’s on me,” he said. “Thought we saw something there. The kid made a nice play, came through, and we gotta take care of the ball better. But that’s on me completely.”
Fairmont came close to making it five straight even though they fell behind 14-7 when Owens scored on a one-yard run on a broken play with 57 seconds left in the third quarter. That’s when the Firebirds’ run-heavy triple-option broke tendency and took advantage of Alter’s focus on stopping the run.
Hill threw short passes to a wide-open Nolan Stringer out of the slot for touchdowns of 60 and 44 yards for a 21-14 lead with 5:39 left. Hill was 4-for-4 for 143 yards. The Firebirds rushed for 157 yards, led by fullback Logan Doty’s 93 on 16 carries.
“We saw some things there, and they were getting pretty active in the secondary, so we were able to take advantage of it,” Miller said.
Alter ran Owens (16 carries for 137 yards), Noah Jones (13 for 48) and Drew Cripps (8 for 75) for 265 ground yards. Owens threw when necessary and completed 7 of 10 for 72 yards. He’s a natural running back, but Domsitz needed him to play quarterback this year.
“I love learning new things,” Owens said. “My team needed me. I didn’t want to say no, so I embraced it, and I tried to get as good as I could for this moment, for the rest of the season, so we can go all the way.”
Domsitz and Owens were proud of their team for bouncing back to play well after two subpar performances in scrimmages. Domsitz scouted Fairmont and felt like an underdog.
“We put all the pieces together,” Owens said. “Our scrimmages weren’t where we wanted it to be, but we fine tuned some things, got back in the lab, worked as a team, and did things with intentions, and that brought us to this win.”
A win and team effort that came down to one gigantic play.
“I’m not going to take credit for it,” Ogburn said. “My team played a hell of a game, and I’m just happy that we could break the losing streak.”
Reifschneider wants to see his friend heal, and he hopes this win helps. As the two posed for photos after the game in front of the scoreboard, they had their arms around each other and smiled.
“He’s going through a tough time,” Reifschneider said. “This bumped his mood up a lot.”
Grandpa’s, too.
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