EAGLES SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER Tevin Green hauls in one of two touchdown passes he had in the season finale victory over the Crockett Bulldogs. It was a long season, but the Fairfield high school Eagles varsity football team ended on a positive note, defeating the Crockett Bulldogs 44-34.

The Eagles, who were in close contests all season, came from behind to secure their lone win of the year.

Palestine won the District 20-AAA championship and plays Mexia at bi-district, while Brownsboro faces Lorena. Palestine and Brownsboro are in the Division II playoffs.

Representing the district in Division I is Athens, which meets LaVega at bidistrict.

Crockett drew first blood in the season finale when quarterback Napoleon Dennis raced 52 yards for a touchdown on the second play of the game. The extra point was added by kicker Juan Barrientos to give the Bulldogs a quick 7-0 lead.

Fairfield answered on its first possession of the game, marching 54 yards in eight plays to score on a 3-yard run by Anthony Price. After a defensive offsides flag on the extra point kick, the Eagles elected to try for two points but missed to trail 6-7 with 7:12 minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The Eagles started their scoring drive from the 46 yard line after a 29-yard kickoff return by quarterback Willie Tatum, and Price got the call on seven of eight plays.

Neither team could get on track the remainder of the first quarter, then Fairfield mounted a attack to score on a 43-yard field goal by Rudi Castillo with 8:39 remaining in the second quarter.

Key to the drive was a 43-yard pass play from Tatum to Evan Simpson that took the ball to the Bulldogs' 27 yard line.

Crockett, however, took the ensuing kickoff and marched to the Fairfield 11 yard line before lining up for a successful field goal to make it 9-10 at the 6:18 mark.

Starting from the 32 yard line, the Eagles put together a 12-play drive to score with 37 seconds left in the half and take a 17-10 lead they would not relinquish.

Freshman fullback Cody Sell ran for 27 yards in the drive and Tatum completed a pair of passes before a defensive interference penalty took the football down to the Crockett 17 yard line.

Tatum connected with fullback LaMar O'Brian for a 6-yard gain then found wide receiver Tevin Green in the end zone for an 11- yard touchdown pass.

The extra point kick by Castillo found its mark.

On the kickoff, the Bulldogs fumbled and the ball was recovered by Mikael Busby on the Crockett 26 yard line.

It took just one play, a 26-yard pass from Tatum to Tevin Green to light up the scoreboard again, 10 seconds after the last touchdown.

Castillo added the extra point to give Fairfield a 24- 10 lead with 27 seconds remaining in the half.

The Bulldogs used those 27 seconds well, moving the ball downfield on a couple of long pass plays and kicking a 35-yard field goal to narrow the margin to 24-13 at the buzzer.

Fairfield received the second half kickoff and quickly went to work mounting a 12-play drive that ended with a 35-yard field goal by Castillo, giving the Eagles a 27-13 lead at the 4:15 mark of the third quarter.

FHS gridders picked up 22 yards on a pass from Tatum to Colby Green and the rest on running by Tatum, Price and Sell.

Crockett was not out of the game yet and put together a 10-play drive resulting in a touchdown plunge by C.J. Wheeler and PAT kick by Barrientos, making the score 27-20.

The Eagles responded with another long drive, 60 yards, and another field goal by Castillo for a 30-20 margin early in the fourth quarter.

The drive started with a 33-yard pass play from Tatum to Tevin Green and included a 10-yard run by Sell and 6-yard run by Robert Durham.

Crockett wasted no time in striking back, scoring on the first play after the kickoff when Wheeler connected on a pass to Dominique Wheeler for a 48-yard touchdown. The extra point kick by Barrientos narrowed the score to 30- 27 with 10:04 left in the game.

In what had turned into an offensive game, the Eagles roared back with a 10-play drive that covered 63 yards and ended with a 1-yard plunge by O'Brien. Castillo added the PAT kick for a 37-27 score.

Key plays in the series were an 18-yard pass from Tatum to Aaron Jones and a 16-yard run by Durham.

The Bulldogs answered again, quickly, taking four plays to travel 70 yards and score on an 8-yard run by Jonathan Wolf. Barrientos made the margin 37-34 with the Eagles still leading.

Starting yet another scoring drive, with 4:26 left on the game clock, the Eagles marched 54 yards in seven plays, finding the end zone on a 27-yard pass from Tatum to Simpson. A Tatum-Simpson play earlier picked up 16 yards in the drive.

Castillo split the uprights to give the Eagles a 44-34 lead that would hold up for the last 1:24.

The Eagles ended the last shot by Crockett when Tevin Green intercepted a pass and ran it to the Bulldogs' 22 yard line before getting tackled.

Tatum took a knee twice to end the game.

Fairfield rushing leader was Sell who carried 12 times for 70 yards. Durham picked up 62 yards on 15 carries, Price gained 50 yards on 10 totes and Tatum had 48 yards on 11 tries.

Tatum completed 10 of 15 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns, hitting Tevin Green for two scores and Simpson for one.

Simpson had four catches for 86 yards and Tevin Green hauled in two for 41 yards.

Castillo booted three field goals and three extra points.

Playing their last football game as Eagles were seniors Busby, Tatum, Tevin Green, Josh Dodds, Andrew Myers, Jeff Wood, O'Brien, LaDarius Brackens, Aaron Jones, Kalop Allen, Eli Pratt, Brock Eggleston, Alex Ezell and Colby Green.