Fresh off moving inside the state’s top five quarterbacks in all-time passing touchdowns, Fairview senior Aidan Atkinson chose rather to reflect on his defense.
“Defense wins championships,” Atkinson said after the Knights needed two defensive stops to hold on to beat Rock Canyon 28-19 on a rainy Friday night at Christian Recht Field. “They did a hell of a job. That’s the kind of championship-caliber defense we’re going to need.”
The Northwestern commit threw three touchdowns to Grant Page, including No. 95 of his career with 1 minute, 52 seconds remaining, and the Knights (4-1) survived.
Ascending up the state record books, Atkinson passed Alamosa’s Clay Garcia and Bear Creek’s Zach Thenell for most passing TDs. He sits 18 behind Arickaree’s Dave Garcia, who tops the list with the 113 he threw in the mid-1980s.
What does it mean to Atkinson? Not a ton.
“The biggest thing is what’s in the win column and what’s in the loss column,” the quarterback said. “The biggest thing is getting the ‘W’ and that’s what we did tonight.”
After Dillon Tarves’ rushing TD and Atkinson’s QB draw out of a three-linemen set for the two-point conversion put the Knights ahead 22-13 in the opening minutes of the second half, Rock Canyon (1-4) pulled within three on Vann Schield’s second TD of the night.
The Jags, looking to take the late lead, however, were held scoreless. They had consecutive drives deep in Fairview’s territory result in no points, missing two field goals.
Atkinson’s third-down strike to Page then went for 57 yards to seal the game.
“We were in a dogfight from the beginning,” Knights coach Tom McCartney said. “I feel like this can really rally a team together and just know when times are rough, and things are rugged we will find a way.”
In the opening half, Atkinson & Co. needed fourth-down conversions on both of its scoring drives. Shrugging off two possessions that ended with no points, the senior QB connected with Page on touchdowns of 56 and 24 yards to give Fairview its first lead at 14-13 with 5:38 left in the half.
The breakout sophomore hauled in Atkinson’s throw about 25 yards downfield on fourth-and-6 late in the first quarter, cutting back before outrunning the rest of the secondary to tie the game in the waning seconds of the first quarter. On the next drive, he grabbed a short pass and pinballed off defenders into the end zone.
“Grant is a hell of a playmaker for us,” Atkinson said. “He catches everything, works hard and is a hell of an athlete. I have the easy job, I just get him the ball and he does everything with it.”
Rock Canyon, a year after losing to the Knights 49-7, rushed for 263 yards and kept the Fairview fans that hadn’t dispersed for drier climates nervous throughout.
The Jags scored on a shortened field in the opening 69 seconds after picking off Atkinson’s second pass attempt of the game. In the second, they went up 13-7 on short reception that Schield turned into a 61-yard score.
“Rock Canyon, man they play hard,” McCartney said. “They have a talented rushing attack. So, we needed all of that to get the victory.”
