EAGLES RUNNING BACK Darian Scott ran through the grasp of a Crandall defender to give Fairfield a short-lived 21-14 lead. Fairfield Eagles varsity gridders had another win snatched from their grasp Friday night when they fell to the Crandall Pirates 21- 27 in overtime.

The Eagles held a 14-0 lead more than halfway through the second quarter before the game started unraveling.

"We've been playing good enough to win," Fairfield head coach Darrell Piske says. "Evidently, we are going to have to play perfect."

The momentum changed late in the second quarter when the Pirates mounted a 99-yard drive that ended with a touchdown as time expired to narrow the margin to 14-7.

Crandall tallied again on their opening drive of the third quarter, then rallied with two minutes left in the game to tie and force an overtime period.

In overtime, the Eagles were stopped and missed a field goal attempt, then the Pirates found the endzone on its possession.

Crandall also picked Fairfield apart with a potent second half passing game.

The two teams traded punts the entire first quarter of the game before the Eagles got field position from an interception by linebacker Evan Simpson on the Crandall 28 yard line.

Fairfield picked up 20 yards of what was needed on a psss from quarterback Willie Tatum to Evans and Darian Scott scooted across the goal line from the five yard line. The scoring drive took just four plays.

Kicker Rudi Castillo added the extra point for a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter.

After forcing the Pirates to go 3-and-out, the Eagles went to work from their own 29 to score in six plays on a 30-yard scamper by Tatum. Castillo added the PAT for a 14-0 score with 4:28 minutes remaining in the half.

Contributing to the drive were Scott, carrying three times for 34 yards, and Anthony Price, two totes for seven yards.

The Eagles stopped the next Crandall drive about midfield when cornerback Colby Green pounced on a fumble, but the Fairfield team gave the ball back four downs later. The fourth down punt by Justin Terry traveled 48 yards to put the Pirates on their own one yard line.

Crandall quarterback Tucker Mallon started the eventual scoring drive with a 28-yard pass completition to Randall Henderson, then connected with Terrence Johnson, Collin Mathis and Henderson again to go the distance.

The touchdown was an 18 yard toss to the back corner of the endzone, gathered up on a diving catch by Mathis with time expired on the clock. Mallon added the extra point kick to make it a 14-7 game.

Fairfield received the third quarter kickoff, punted away on fourth down and got the football back on the first Crandall play when Mallon fumbled and defensive end LaDarius Brackens recovered on the Pirates' 21.

The Eagles advanced to the 10 yard line on an 11- yard run by Chris Burns, lost a couple of yards on a fumble recovered by Evans and called Castillo for a field goal attempt, which was unsuccesful.

Just before the third quarter ended, the Pirates took over on their own 16 yard line to mount a 13- play touchdown drive, scoring on a 2.5-yard pass from Mallon to Henderson. Mallon added the extra point boot to tie the game at 14-all with 8:38 remaining.

Mallon threw 12 passes in the drive, picking up 34 yards in one chunk on a toss to Michael Cooper.

The Eagles helped their opponents, though, by jumping offsides twice, the second time to move the ball up to the two and onehalf yard line.

Fairfield went 3-and-out after the ensuing kickoff but got the ball back when Price intercepted Fallon on the 35 yard line and returned it 27 yards, and a personal foul moved the ball up to the Crandall 25.

A 15-yard gain to the 20 came on the first snap when the Pirates were whistled for a personal foul, Burns picked up nine yards and Scott ran twice for a total of 11 and the touchdown. Castillo added the PAT to give Fairfield a 21-14 lead with 3:16 remaining in the contest.

The Pirates, though, needed just four quick plays to cover 55 yards after a short kickoff gave them possession on their own 45.

Mallon completed four consecutive passes to Johnson, Mathis and Reid Baker to set up a 7-yard scoring run by Skylar Holley. Mallon booted the PAT to tie the game 21-all with 2:10 left, and regulation play ended with the tie.

Fairfield got first possession in overtime, starting on the 25, and were stymied on the 20. Castillo was called to try a field goal, but missed the mark.

Crandall then set up on the 25 yard line, advanced to the 12 when the Eagles were called for pass interference and scored from there on a run by Johnson to end the contest.

Piske credits the defensive unit for giving the offense a chance to score—- the squad recovered two fumbles and picked off two passes.

Linebacker Brodrick White led the team with seven solo tackles, a quarterback pressure, a tackle for a loss and a broken up pass.

Burns made five solo tackles, two tackles for losses and broke up a pass, and Price made five solo tackles, picked off a pass and broke up two passes.

Defensive end Brackens made three solo tackles, two quarterback pressures, one tackle for a loss, caused a fumble and recovered a fumble.

"We've played hard all along. Now we've got to get that killer instinct," Piske says.

Fairfield is posting an 0- 5 record to complete non district play, losing three games in the final minutes, or in ovetime. The Eagles fell to Ferris 24-31 when the Yellowjackets scored in the last three minutes and lost to Rusk 10-14 in the last two minutes.

District 20-AAA records don't look much better—- Palestine is 2-3, Athens is 1-4 and Crockett is 0-5.

Winning records are being posted by Brownsboro, 4-0, and Palestine Westwood, 3-2.

Piske believes the predistrict marks are a bit misleading because Palestine, Athens and Crockett played tough schedules, as did the Eagles.

"I think Palestine is just a touch above everyone else, and everybody else is pretty even," the Fairfield coach says.

The Eagles are idle this week before starting district play Oct. 9 at home.

This week and next will be dedicated to sharpening the offensive attack, especially the passing game.

"We did a pretty good job running the veer against Crandall," Piske says. "We need to throw the ball enough to keep them off of us."