WEST CHESTER TWP. — For the Fairfield Indians, things are beginning to take shape offensively after they were forced to operate under a different scheme for the first time in four years.
It’s turned into the highest-scoring offense in the Greater Miami Conference heading into Week 4.
“There was a learning curve for our guys,” Fairfield coach Jason Krause said. “We expected that, and we knew that.”
Junior quarterback Dominic Back and the Indians travel to Lakota West to face the GMC’s best defense Friday night at 7 p.m. at Firebird Stadium.
The Indians (2-1, 2-0 GMC) have won two straight and average 34 points and 416 total yards of offense per game. The Firebirds (2-1, 1-1 GMC), who have won the last four meetings against Fairfield, are coming off a 14-6 loss at Princeton.
“Just like I told the kids, it’s the old proverbial, ‘Be mad, don’t pout,’” Lakota West coach Tom Bolden said. “We didn’t play well enough to win. Princeton made more plays than we did. We made too many mistakes. We tip our hat to them, and hopefully we’ll get a chance at them later on. But we’ve moved on from that.
“There’s so much more football to play this year. Our focus has moved on to Fairfield — who’s racking up a bunch of points and yards and things like that. Our defense is really excited about this opportunity to show what they’re worth. I think the offense is looking to have a huge bounce-back week.”
Fairfield’s offense is led by new coordinator Ross Baker. Senior running back Tyler George said the difference is noticeable.
“The thing about that is during our offseason, we were wanting to figure everything out,” George said. “It was up to us to just execute what we’ve learned. So far this year, we’ve been doing a really good job with it as far things go upfront.”
“Ross’ practice plan has been tremendous,” Krause noted. “It’s as organized of a practice plan as I’ve ever seen. He does a really good job of hitting every little nuance that needs to be hit. He pays attention to details, and that has carried over to Dom. They spend a lot of time together. They watch a lot of film. I think the combination of Coach Baker and Dom together are the reason that we’ve progressed as quickly as we have with the new scheme.”
George leads the GMC with 431 rushing yards and has six total touchdowns. He credited Back for stepping into the QB role after four-year starter Talon Fisher graduated.
“He’s been doing a great job of just leading us,” George said of Back, who has thrown for a GMC-second best 534 yards to go along with four touchdown passes. “Our receivers help us be well-sound all-around. I’m really proud of what we’ve done with our offense.
“This whole week we’ve just been mentally preparing for this. We know it’s not going to be an easy fight. We know what we have. We know what we’re going up against. We’re going to take that challenge. We’re not scared of anybody. So, we’re just going to take this as a challenge, and we know our capabilities and what we’re made of. We’re just ready for whatever.”
So is Lakota West, which has already put its second-straight loss to Princeton aside.
“From a leadership role and from the captains, we spoke about this being a bounce-back week,” said Firebirds senior linebacker Grant Beerman, a Purdue commit. “We’ve got to step up our leadership. We don’t think we were good enough leaders against Princeton. Not only with that, but also how we’re playing. We’ve got to be locked in mentally. So, I think Princeton wise, that was a really good mental awareness game, and it was good to have early in the season.
“We know that Fairfield is a really good team, obviously,” Beerman added. “We’ve been preparing well and not treating them lightly. We could lose another, and we don’t want to have that same feeling as last week.
“This team is dynamic. I think that’s a good word. I know we’re coming off a loss, and we didn’t look dynamic. But I think when we play together, and when we play as one, I think nobody can really stop us.”
Beerman is second in the conference with 30 tackles. Leading the Firebird offense is senior quarterback Sam Wiles, who has thrown for 309 yards and three touchdowns. Wiles also leads the team with 131 rushing yards and three scores on the ground.
“Right now, it’s finding out something about yourself,” Bolden said. “It’s one of those things where you sit there after Week 3 and look at yourself and think, ‘Well, is one of our goals not attainable? Maybe, maybe not.’ All the stuff that goes with this is the wins, and I’ve been a part of a lot of them — way more than I’ve been a part of losses. The wins are the wins. The championships are the championships. The playoff games, the regional games — all that stuff.
“It’s all about the journey, and it’s all about finding out something about yourself from the game of football that carries over to life.”
