During this past week, Page Patriots head coach Charles Rathburn said he would find out what kind of team he had when Fairview visited on Friday night.
He meant, after losing practically his entire offensive line and three receivers from last year, expectations were muted for the season.
Maybe that is still true but he certainly found something out. The Patriots jumped out to a 17 point first quarter lead, and only built on it as the night went on. Page, 38, Fairview, 7, was the final score in our Game of the Week.
In the swirl of new faces, returning Page quarterback Michael Magochy stood out and above, completing 5 of 8 passes for 68 yards and two touchdowns. In the first quarter.
He finished the night 9 of 15 for 169 yards and two touchdowns passing and another 25 yards and a touchdown on three rushes.
Page consistently started with very good field position, and penalties plagued Fairview (11 for 95 yards in the first half alone).
Page receiver Connor Morss made what seemed like nothing but big plays. He caught the first touchdown of the game on a 23-yard scamper. He finshed with four catches for 70 yards.
“We weren’t perfect, but at times we looked pretty daggone good,” Rathbone said. “We will look at film on Monday and bring them back down to earth a little.”
Long Night For YellowJackets
Fairview looked like it might make a push, after holding Page scoreless in the second quarter. Coming out in the third, Fairview did look like it found its rhythm. Hunter Zimmerman for Fairview ended up 16 of 24 for 173 yards, and Sam Sanborn led all receivers with 11 catches and 155 yards.
But it was Zimmerman’s one mistake that nailed the door shut. Right after a touchdwon drive by Fairview made it 17-7, Page responded with a drive and a Magochy rushing TD with 5:01 left in the third. At this point Fairvew had played Page to a tie for a quarter and a half, and there still enough time to comeback.
On the next play, however, Page DB Trevor Johnson jumped a route and took a Zimmerman pass intended for Sanborn 31 yards the other way for a score.
At 31-7 going into the fourth quarter, the outcome was all but academic.
“Page beat us in every phase of the game,” Chris Hughes, Fairview head coach, said. “We had 14 penalties, 11 on third of fourth down.”
“You will not win many games like that.”
Fairview had won four of the last five meetings between the two schools.
After Friday night, the rivalry, known as the Battle for 840, seems to be getting more interesting than in recent years.
| Scoring | 1q | 2q | 3q | 4q |
| Page | 17 | 0 | 14 | 7 |
| Fairview | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
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