More photos. (Kai Casey/kaicasey.com)
BOULDER — Fairview football came into Thursday’s season opener against Horizon expecting adversity and hungry for revenge.
The Knights didn’t let the showering rain, the lightning striking in the distance, or even the lengthy delay get in the way of a 38-24 win, which avenged a loss to the Hawks last season.
“We have a saying, lex talionis — an eye for an eye. We got ’em back this year and I’m very excited about that,” said senior wide receiver David McWilliams.
Fairview, ranked No. 10 in Class 5A, capitalized on Horizon mistakes whether it was the missed field goal, the fumble, the turnover on downs inside the five yard line, or the 55-yard touchdown run by Horizon running back Cade Verkler that was negated by penalty.
And the Knights capitalized in a big way. Fairview scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive after the aforementioned events, looking adversity straight in the eyes.
“We really focus on adversity, after I had an unfortunate mistake — I threw an interception — we were able to stare that adversity in the face,” Fairview’s senior quarterback Jake Willemsen said after making his debut at the helm of the Fairview offense. “They didn’t get any points off of that, and our offense was really able to capitalize off those turnovers that they gave us.”
Willemsen finished with 349 yards on 26-of-43 passing and four touchdowns. The dual-threat QB also got it done on the ground, chipping in 67 yards and another score.
“He’s had a tremendous offseason, I mean really really good,” Fairview coach Tom McCartney said. “We’ve got 100 percent belief and faith in him. Tough guy, he got banged up a little bit and came back in and finish that drive and get us in the end zone because it’s a one-score game at that point.
“He was making a lot of plays with his arm. A huge first performance. Outstanding.”
Added Willemsen: “Me being able to scramble is a great asset I have, but honestly none of that happens without my offensive line.”
More photos. (Kai Casey/CHSAANow.com)
Willemsen and McWilliams have a clear connection on the field as quarterback and receiver.
“We’ve been doing it since we were in ninth grade, just slinging it back and forth,” McWilliams said. “We connect on pretty much anything, we have our own calls, we have our own audibles, we can run anything anytime and we just know that we’re going to see each other and meet on the same page.”
McWilliams and the veteran receiving core around Willemsen, which includes Tommy Wakefield (87 yards, one TD) and Quinn Sharp (141 yards, one TD), embody the prototypical Fairview offense of recent years.
“Offensively we like to throw it, and so we want to find the best grass and we feel like we’ve got a lot of veteran receivers back and we believe in all of them and a quarterback we feel like can make plays,” McCartney said.
Horizon gave Fairview a scare after Verkler broke free for an 80-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the second half, and quarterback Amado Capetillo snuck in on a 1-yard rush to cut the score to just 31-24. Verkler turned in his own incredible effort with 206 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
“We came in, we circled up, we stared adversity in the face and buckled down and came out,” Willemsen said.
Willemsen took Fairview down the field making plays with his arm and legs in a drive that ate up just under six minutes, ending with a shovel pass to Sharp for a 4-yard touchdown to seal the game at 38-24.
“You always try to expect that adversity is going to hit in some fashion,” McCartney said. “So, when they got that game back to within reach for them — and you have to make plays as an offense to churn out some first downs or get in the endzone.”
Fairview (1-0) will face crosstown rival Boulder next week, while Horizon (0-1) looks to get into the win column against Overland.
“We’re excited to get to 1-0. That’s always the goal: find a way to get to 1-0,” McCartney said. “I’m proud of them because we met that goal.”