Talon Fisher runs Fairfield past Wayne in Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown

FAIRFIELD, Ohio - Huber Heights Wayne and Fairfield entered Thursday night's Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown opener with similar expectations for the 2022 campaign.

Both clubs posted winning records last season but stumbled early in the playoffs, and each squad consisted of multiple Division I football recruits and quarterbacks who were trying to take the next step after being thrown into the fire as underclassmen.

Wayne sophomore Tyrell Lewis dazzled with his arm (1,163 yards, 11 touchdowns) as a freshman and Fairfield junior Talon Fisher is a three-star recruit and the No. 25 player in Ohio for the Class of 2024 with three Division I offers after impressing with his legs in 2021 (550 yards, 12 touchdowns).

Despite Lewis throwing for a career-high 241 yards, it was Fisher's running ability that carried Fairfield to a 41-24 win, the program's first season-opening victory since 2019.

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Fisher finished with a game-high 174 yards, his highest rushing output since going for 299 in a win over Middletown as a freshman in 2020. He saved his best for crunch time in the fourth quarter after Wayne had trimmed a three-possession deficit to just 28-24 with 6:25 remaining. Fisher ran for 51 yards over three consecutive carries, including a 35-yard gallop deep into Warrior territory, then gave it to Jordan Jackson for a seven-yard touchdown with 3:15 remaining to seal it.

"We just figured we'd use all of the time we can and just make the plays and Talon Fisher had a great night," said Fairfield head coach Jason Krause, who earned his 150th career victory.

Jackson, a top 20 recruit in Ohio for the Class of 2023 and a West Virginia commit, bounced back in the final two quarters after being limited to just 13 yards on four attempts in the first half. Jackson ran for a pair of scores in the second half and finished with 48 yards over a dozen totes.

Fisher was hoping to improve through the air after throwing just six touchdowns against 13 interceptions a season ago. The junior left-hander finished 7-of-14 for 115 yards and saved his best throw for his second snap of the second half, when he found a streaking Isaiah Glover for a 59-yard touchdown to give Fairfield a 21-10 lead.

Fisher, who also landed two of his three punts inside the Wayne 20-yard line, was named the Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown Most Valuable Player for his efforts.

Fairfield didn't dominate throughout the game but was able to capitalize in all three phases. After Fisher found Glover for a touchdown to make it 21-10 early in the third quarter, a well-executed squib kick by the Indians was botched by Wayne deep in its own territory and Fairfield junior Braeden Shanklin hopped on it at the Warriors' six-yard line. Two plays later, Jackson's first touchdown gave the Indians a 28-10 lead after finding the endzone twice in just 62 seconds.

Defensively, Fairfield thwarted any last-ditch comeback attempt by recording takeaways on each of Wayne's final two drives. Senior defensive back Ki'Arran Love put the icing on the cake with an interception with 1:18 remaining in regulation. Less than two minutes earlier, Fairfield sealed a victory when senior defensive lineman Josh Maupin sacked Lewis and knocked the ball free, allowing fellow senior lineman Aamir Rogers to scoop and score from three yards out to make it 41-24.

Rogers was not the only lineman to find the end zone for Fairfield, however. Indians' running back Kavi Bivins, who scored a touchdown to tie the game at 7-7 in the first quarter, was eyeing a return trip to pay-dirt in the second quarter when he was stripped at the Wayne 1-yard line. The loose pigskin bounced and ricocheted deep into the end zone and was finally hopped on by senior offensive lineman Reese Laseke to give Fairfield a lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the night.

"I don't care who's scoring them, as long as we're scoring them," Krause laughed.

Bivins was the primary goal-line back for the Indians Thursday night and junior Juseters Fataki chimed in with 40 yards (22 rushing, 18 receiving) from scrimmage on seven touches. Glover led Fairfield with 69 receiving yards on two catches and slot receiver Mike Figgins, a senior, had a team-high three catches for 28 yards.

Wayne was able to strike first, though, after forcing a Fairfield three-and-out to start the game. Lewis orchestrated a 10-play, 83-yard drive on the Warriors' first possession of the game, connecting with four different receivers for 40 yards and calling his own number with a nine-yard touchdown run to give Wayne a 7-0 lead with 4:39 left in the opening stanza. Fairfield's defense would settle in, forcing back-to-back punts before Wayne moved 61 yards over the final 1:21 of the first half, setting up junior Luke Daulton's 24-yard field goal as time expired to make it 14-10 at the intermission.

"The defense made plays when it was time to make plays," Krause said.

Fairfield forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Wayne drive of the third quarter and the Warriors were in an 18-point hole by the time they got the ball back. Lewis moved the Warriors 89 yards over 10 plays in less than three minutes late in the third quarter, with senior running back Zachariah Williams finding the end zone from six yards out, a score set up by freshman Isaiah Thompson's 28-yard run. Williams finished with 84 yards on 14 carries and Thompson had 37 on five attempts.

Fairfield's initial attempt to put the game away came early in the fourth quarter when Fisher ran 14 yards to the Wayne 32-yard line, a carry that gave him his seventh career 100-yard effort. Two plays later, Fisher's pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and picked off by Wayne linebacker Mikko Delong. Six plays later, Lewis found Ball State commit R.J. Mukes for a 55-yard touchdown to make it 28-24 with 6:25 remaining. Mukes registered a game-high five catches for 134 yards and sophomore Teaunn Hunter had four catches for 43 yards.

Krause said playing and beating a team like Wayne, which was co-champion of the Greater Western Ohio Conference (GWOC) last season, was a solid litmus test for the new nine-game Greater Miami Conference schedule, which begins next week. Fairfield will play four of its first six league foes on the road before hosting Lakota West and Lakota East in October with a road date with Mason in between.

"I told our guys, 'we're gonna play better teams than that,'" Krause said. "We're going to. We know that in a nine-game stretch in our conference. There's gonna be better teams so we gotta get better."

Fairfield 41, Wayne 24

Wayne - 7 3 7 7 - 24

Fairfield - 7 7 14 13 - 41

W- Lewis 9 run (Daulton kick)

F- Bivins 5 run (McGuire kick)

F- Laseke 0 fum ret (McGuire kick)

W- FG Daulton 24

F- Glover 59 pass from Fisher (McGuire kick)

F- Jackson 7 run (McGuire kick)

W- Williams 6 run (Daulton kick)

W- Mukes 55 pass from Lewis (Daulton kick)

F- Jackson 7 run (McGuire kick)

F- Rogers 3 fum ret (kick failed)

Records: F 1-0, W 0-1

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown: Fisher runs Fairfield past Wayne