The Warriors were able to make a few more in the final minutes.
After the Indians scored two consecutive touchdowns to take a one-point lead, Wayne’s James Dyer IV caught a wide-open pass from fellow sophomore Kye Graham with 3:49 left. The Warriors forced a turnover on downs with a little less than two minutes left, got a first down and soon after celebrated on the field with cheerleaders and the school’s marching band after a 31-24 victory.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“I might have jinxed us, because I told our coaches with us being so young, I wanted to know how we would respond to seeing some adversity,” Wayne coach Roosevelt Mukes Jr. said. “We had some, and they did a great job of responding to it.”
Wayne’s four touchdowns were each scored by different players, two of which are among the team’s biggest returnees.
Junior Jamier Averette-Brown, who had over 1,000 receiving yards last year, finished with 161 all-purpose yards, including a 97-yard kickoff return to open the second half. Senior Isaiah Thompson, who had nearly 1,300 rushing yards last season, finished with 100 yards on 15 carries, one of which was a 46-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter.
“It feels amazing to have my teammates step up,” Thompson said. “None of us have to do everything. We’re all going to make big plays, because we’re playmakers. We’re going to make the big ones we need to make.”
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Fairfield coach Justin Roden, who took over the program in June, was proud of his team’s effort. The Indians won five total games over 2023 and 2024 and lost over 20 players to graduation off last season’s squad.
“As far as the resolve goes and the energy level, I’m extremely proud,” Roden said. “… Fight and grit, they’re good for conversations like this, but you want to win, and you look at the box score, and a loss is a loss.”
The Indians led 7-3 at halftime, but Averette-Brown, who is verbally committed to Ohio State, caught the opening kickoff of the third quarter, ran left and sprinted up the sideline to give the Warriors a 9-7 lead after a missed extra point.
The Indians punted, and Wayne quickly broke another big play. Semarion Sroufe caught a short pass and ran most of the way on a 76-yard TD reception to push the lead to 16-7 with 7:49 left.
Fairfield’s Hunter Gagen kicked a 25-yard field goal in the last minute of the third to cut the gap to 16-10, but Wayne scored again soon after.
Thompson broke free up the middle and ran 46 yards for a TD with 11:06 left to push the lead to 23-10.
The Indians responded.
After getting decent field position following a celebration penalty, Fairfield quickly drove to midfield, and a few plays later, Mason Thomas caught a 21-yard wide open TD pass from Dominic Back to cut the gap to six points with 10:01 left.
Wayne punted on its next drive, and Corrious Booker scored on a 35-yard TD run with 5:37 left. Gagen made the extra point to give the Indians a 24-23 lead.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“I told the kids that when Wayne had gone up by two scores, and you could feel the momentum starting to go to them and them dominate it, I was extremely proud of them for the fight and to make some plays and to come back and take the lead late,” Roden said. “I don’t believe that would have happened based on what I watched of this team the last two years.”
The Warriors produced one last big offensive play, though. Graham scrambled under pressure, and when defenders left Dyer open along the home sideline, he spotted him and threw a 39-yard TD pass. He connected with Thompson on a two-point conversion pass to increase the lead to seven points.
Wayne then prevented Fairfield from getting a first down and ran out the clock.
“Really proud of them. Going into today, I think we had a total of six kids who had played in a varsity game,” Mukes said. “… It’s just a credit to our guys and their resilience. Not getting too high, not getting too low, but just dealing with the adversity.”
Back completed 16-of-30 passes for 159 yards with one TD. The team combined for 181 yards on the ground on 35 carries.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Graham completed 14-of-26 passes for 229 yards with two TDs.
After a slow start offensively by both teams, a defensive play helped the Indians score first.
Fairfield forced a fumble after a pass reception, and Jake Schwartz recovered it at Wayne’s 14 late in the first quarter.
Several plays later, Back faked a handoff, ran to his left and fell across the goal line after two Wayne players tried to stop him on a 3-yard TD run with three seconds left.
Wayne continued to struggle to move the ball, including after the Indians turned it over on downs after faking a punt.
After the Indians punted with a little less than five minutes left in the second, Wayne drove into the red zone, and Jayden Heinrich kicked a 35-yard field goal with 1:35 left to cut the gap to 7-3 at halftime.
The Warriors are scheduled to travel to Pickerington Central in Week 2. Fairfield is slated to start Greater Miami Conference play by traveling to Middletown.
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