Middletown, getting used to the direction of coach Don Simpson, is in the beginning stages of its rebuild.
“We have to go from being ‘oh no,’ to ‘let’s go,’” Simpson said after his Middies fell 47-7 to Fairfield on Friday night at Cris Carter Field at Barnitz Stadium. “We are a work in progress.”
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“Right now, we are controlling our own destiny,” Krause said after his team improved to 3-0 and 1-0 in the Greater Miami Conference. “With where we want to go, it is good to control it this early in the season.”
Early on, it looked like the Middies were going to hang with the Indians.
Fairfield scored first on a 15-yard run by Jutahn McClain, but the Middies came right back to tie the score at 7-7, converting a fourth-and-10 at the Fairfield 32 into a scoring strike from Kamari Fuller to Au’Braylen Million with 1:33 remaining in the first quarter.
“We gave them good field position and they went up top and our defense was not happy about that,” Krause said. “It was a sudden change and we didn’t get it done.
“It really fired our defense up.”
For Middletown, that was the end of the offense.
The Fairfield defense held the Middies to just four more first downs and 99 yards in total offense.
Fairfield, meanwhile, was also getting its offense going.
The Indians scored on their next three possessions to take a 28-7 lead into the half.
“That happens and it is part of the process of a young team,” Simpson said. “We are showing process early and we can compete early in the game, but it shows our youth.
“They ran the same plays on the first two series when we stopped them as they did when they scored. We just have to be patient.”
Fairfield added a pair of scoring runs from Sawiaha Ellis to push the lead to 41-7 and start the running clock before Jaydan Mayes closed the scoring with a 72-yard punt return with 2:59 remaining.
Fairfield finished with a balanced attack on offense with Ellis throwing for 158 and the team finished with 182 on the ground.
McClain finished with 153 yards on just 13 carries before getting a breather the second half.
“He was banged up a bit during the week, but nothing serious,” Krause said of McClain. “It was good to get him some rest and to put it on our offensive line. They are starting to gain some experience and get to where they understand what they have to do regardless of who is running the ball.”
The one thing that Krause wasn’t happy with – and he pointed it out to the team after the game – was penalties.
Fairfield gave Middletown a first down on a roughing the kicker call, they also were flagged for a false start on an extra point attempt and had a couple dead ball calls as part of nine penalties for 67 yards.
“I told them it was a good win, but we had too many mental errors,” Krause said. “We did things that we can’t do in a tight ballgame because they will come back to bite us. We need to fix them because our goal is to be in a certain place.”
Josh Bryant led the Middies with 63 yards on 18 carries. Middletown had just 67 yards on the ground.
“We have nine guys on offense who will be back and that is what you will have with a rebuild,” Simpson said. “It’ll get back to where the program was. You can see the potential is there, and more is coming, but we have to be patient and keep the system and program in place.”
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