OFF TO THE RACES … Delta’s Emric Friess takes off down the sideline with the defense in pursuit.
PHOTOS BY RACHEL NAGEL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
FIELD VISION … Vincent Martinez looks for a hole to run through last Friday in Delta’s nonleague battle at Fairview.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
SHERWOOD (August 29, 2025) – In a battle of two teams with contrasting offensive styles, Fairview held on for a thrilling 36-32 non-league victory Friday night over Delta.
“People sitting in the stands had to love that game,” said Delta head coach Mike Vicars. “It was an exciting game back-and-forth, back-and-forth.”
The Apaches (2-0) set the tone early, with quarterback William Zeedyk finding Logan Olinger on a 65-yard scoring pass on the third play of the game.
After being held on downs on their opening offensive series, the Panthers came up with a huge defensive play when senior defensive back Jadon Lohman intercepted a Zeedyk pass at the Apaches’ 40-yard line.
Delta took advantage of the interception, and the end result was a 27-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Marcus Nagel at the 5:56 mark of the first quarter.
“They (Fairview) went bang, bang like on the third play of the game and went on and scored,” said the Delta coach.
“They kicked off, and we didn’t answer it. We punted, and then our defense came up with a great turnover. That was just a war; the rest of the first half was with a lot of action.”
The Panthers’ defense came up with another key stop on Fairview’s next possession and forced a 28-yard punt to the Delta 18-yard line.
Nagel, who had 166 yards on 29 carries in the game, gained 12 yards to the Delta 30, and four plays later, it was sophomore quarterback Emric Friess who had juggled the snap and raced 53 yards into paydirt on a busted play with 2:07 remaining in the opening quarter, and the Panthers led 14-7, following Alex York’s PAT kick.
For the remainder of the first half, it turned into a see-saw battle in which both teams combined for 26 points.
Fairview answered right back following the Panthers’ second touchdown when Zeedyk connected with Jonathon Huffman, hauling in a 59-yard TD pass, capping off a quick three-play, 66-yard drive, tying the score at 14-14.
On Delta’s next offensive series, Friess connected with junior Kade Lintermoot on a 30-yard pass completion to the Fairview 26, setting up an 11-yard scoring run by senior running back Hayden Boulton, and the Panthers regained the lead at 22-14, with 10:48 left in the first half.
After forcing another Fairview punt, Delta would get a 29-yard pass completion from Friess to Gary Valentine to the Apaches’ 13-yard line and four plays later, Alex York connected on a 23-yard field goal, pushing the Delta lead to 25-14, with 7:04 remaining.
It didn’t take very long for the Apaches to get back into it. Starting at their own 36-yard line, Zeedyk then connected on 4 of 5 passes totaling 34 yards on an eight-play, 64-yard drive, and following an 8-yard burst by Drayden Grinnell-Dennis to the Delta 1, it was Olinger plunging over from a yard out for the touchdown.
The two-point conversion pass from Zeedyk to Grinnell-Dennis was good, and the Apaches had trailed 25-22 going into halftime.
“We went up early, but we knew they weren’t done,” said Fairview head coach Doug Rakes. “They don’t have any quit in them, and we knew it was to continue to be a battle back and forth.
“I think we got down by a couple of scores there and then cutting it to three at halftime. I kind of made a few mistakes in play calling at the end of the first half. Otherwise, maybe we go in tied or up going into halftime.”
After holding the Panthers on downs at the Fairview 47 to begin the third quarter, Zeedyk, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 362 yards and three touchdowns, connected with Olinger with a key downfield block delivered by Gavin Garza and raced 80 yards untouched for a touchdown and a 29-25 lead with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.
“I thought we had a pretty good feel offensively towards the end of the first half and going into the second half that we can move the ball and maybe score some points, but we needed some stops,” said Rakes.
Nagel scored his second touchdown of the game, covering 14 yards, and Delta led 32-29 with 10:34 remaining. “Anytime you can hold a team like Delta to seven points in a half, it’s huge,” said Rakes.
On their next series, the Apaches quickly drove six plays and 75 yards with Olinger scoring his fourth touchdown of the night from one yard out, and Fairview regained the lead for good, 36-32, with 8:22 left.
Olinger finished with 10 catches for 197 yards in the contest. Fairview outgained Delta, 432-329, in total offense.
“I thought it was two really even teams, different styles,” said Vicars. “We had the opportunity with the ball with eight minutes to go to answer their touchdown and maybe try to take the rest of that clock down. We had two big penalties that ended that drive.
“Once we punted back to them, they had good field position, and they just ran out the clock. It hurts to lose, but we knew that Fairview was really good.”
Both teams return to action on Friday as Delta hosts Gibsonburg while Fairview entertains Bryan in the final non-conference tune-ups.
DHS 14 11 0 7- 32
FHS 14 8 7 7- 36
F- Olinger 65-yd pass from Zeedyk (VanderMade kick)
D- Nagel 27-yd run (A. York kick)
D- Friess 53-yd run (A. York kick)
F- Huffman 59-yd pass from Zeedyk (VanderMade kick)
D- Boulton 11-yd run (A. York kick)
D- A. York 23-yd field goal
F- Olinger 1-yd run (Grinnell-Dennis pass from Zeedyk)
F- Olinger 80-yd pass from Zeedyk (VanderMade kick)
D- Nagel 14-yd run (A. York kick)
F- Olinger – yd run (VanderMade kick)