Atherton tops Fairdale to clinch Class 5A, District Three title

Atherton overcame some early miscues and a key injury to defeat Fairdale, 24-6, on Friday night to clinch the Class 5A, District Three title.

Running back Mike Curry scored three touchdowns to lead the Ravens (8-1) to their eighth straight win. The junior, who transferred from St. Xavier, earned the trust of his coach and teammates.

“It feels good for me to come here (in my) first year and get an accomplishment like this that has never been done in this school,” Curry said. “It feels real good to help the people that have been here and never been able to win that. And me, coming from a winning program and help them do that, it feels good.”

The penultimate contest of the regular season started as a defensive battle between the Ravens and Bulldogs.

It took Atherton three attempts to get the opening kick finished, but that wasn’t the end of its first-half woes.

Atherton fumbled on back-to-back possessions, including one by senior wideout Sincere Smith. The Ravens blocked a field-goal attempt but turned it over afterward.

The Ravens defense negated those mistakes, though. Junior lineman Brandon Edwards was a force on the line of scrimmage and strip-sacked Fairdale quarterback Jerrel Mason.

After the late first-half turnover, Curry broke the plane from 1 yard to cap a seven-play drive to end the first half.

“That’s another week of practice,” Atherton coach Anthony White said. “That’s what we record for; we’re gonna watch the film and fix it. Every week is something different. That’s why you watch film, and we’re gonna keep getting better. I got one of the best backs in the state. I trust these guys, so we’re gonna fix it, I promise you.”

The Ravens relied on Curry in the second half as junior QB QuaShawn Thompson left the field with an apparent leg injury. Thompson played only two more series before White turned to junior QB Dean Hynniman to finish the game.

Hynniman and Curry connected on multiple big plays. Hynniman hit Curry down the middle, and he took it 21 yards after the catch. The big play set up Curry’s second TD, from 4 yards. Curry capped his career night late in the fourth quarter with his third TD.

“He’s a dude,” White said. “You feed the mule in the cold-weather games. It’s a sloppy track, you line up and you get behind your pads, and that’s what 21 is, 21 is a bell cow, he’s gonna carry us home.”

When the Ravens and Bulldogs last played, Fairdale blew out Atherton 22-0 in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs.

Fairdale came into Week 10 rolling, winner of its last three contests after beating Butler last week, 35-6.

JEFF FAUGHENDER/COURIER JOURNAL Atherton running back Micheal Curry scored three touchdowns as the Ravens defeated Fairdale 24-6 to clinch the 5A, District Three title on Friday.