Fairview and T-Ridge hope to bounce back

When Fairview and ThunderRidge play in a Mount Cameron league showdown at 7 p.m. Friday at Recht Field, both teams will be looking to bounce back from losses to start league play.

For the second consecutive season, the Knights’ 5-0 start was ruined by a decisive defeat at the hands of Columbine to open league play.

In Friday’s 35-14 loss, Class 5A No. 10 Fairview’s normally high-powered offense was limited to just six possessions, which stifled sophomore quarterback Aidan Atkinson’s ability to get in a groove and also limited senior running back Mariano Kemp to 25 yards on seven carries.

Fairview digested the loss, 25th-year coach Tom McCartney said, then quickly moved on in anticipation of another physical test against ThunderRidge.

“When you get knocked down, you’ve got to get back up, and Columbine did a great job and we tip our hats to them,” McCartney said. “We prepared — we just didn’t get the job done. So now we’ve got to regroup because the sign of a good team is if you can get up off the ground and get ready for your next opponent.”

Making that mental reset easier is the team’s confidence in Atkinson, who ranks first in 5A in passing yards (1,680) and second in passing touchdowns (14).

“With two senior quarterbacks last year, that (position) was a question mark going into this year,” McCartney said. “But he’s done a tremendous job, obviously. He’s poised, confident, he protects the football and he’s a good student in the classroom and that translates to his decision-making on the field.”

And while Atkinson is the Knights’ pleasant sophomore surprise, Kemp is their heartbeat.

The younger brother of 2015 Gold Helmet winner Carlo Kemp (now at Michigan) and the nephew of NFL coaches Chuck Pagano and John Pagano, McCartney calls him “a complete back” who, in addition to his abilities with the ball, is crucial to Fairview’s pass protection against stunts and blitzes.

ThunderRidge also is in need of a momentum boost heading into Friday’s game, although the Grizzlies have a lot more at stake than the Knights.

First-year coach Doug Nisenson’s squad is ranked 21st in the latest 5A RPI, meaning the Grizzlies have some work to do — and signature wins to earn — in order to make the 16-team state playoff bracket.

Losses to 4A No. 2 Pine Creek and 5A No. 3 Eaglecrest to open the season put the program in an early hole, but Nisenson said those defeats — plus the four games since then — proved the Grizzlies have the pieces to compete.

“We have some talent and we have some ability, but our margin for error is small,” Nisenson said. “We’re not exceptionally deep and we’re not a big team. But we do have some speed at the skill spots, and we’re able to do things through the air, as we passed for over 250 yards on Pine Creek and Eaglecrest, and I think they’re both pretty good defensive units.”

Senior quarterback Taylor White is a ThunderRidge centerpiece, but it’s junior running back Spencer Lambert who is the Grizzlies’ primary catalyst of an offense that has accounted for only one touchdown over the last two games.

“We’ve had a season marked by missed opportunities,” Nisenson said. “We’ve really struggled in the red zone, because when you look at the yardage we’ve put up, I get kind of shocked by the point total.”