By: Joe Blystone
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
FAYETTE (November 26, 2025) – Last season Fayette didn’t chalk up their first win until the eighth game of the season.
This season? Entirely different beginning as the Eagles used a 14-0 second quarter burst to run away from Hamilton, Indiana, 59-30, in the season opener before a decent Thanksgiving Eve home crowd.
“It’s our third win since I’ve been here and we will take any one we can get,” Eagle coach Kyle Lindsay said.
“What we just talked about in (the locker room) was that our guys have worked really hard in the off-season, through the preseason, and we are really starting to build some confidence which is what we need.”
“As coaches we are just trying to do everything we can to add to that while getting better at things we need to work on defensively. It’s a real treat to work with this group, we are excited for the rest of the season.”
Kruez Lichtenwald’s seven first quarter points countered a pair of Marine triples from Abbott Lingo and Robert Schick to give Fayette a late 10-7 lead.
Mason Leininger found Wyatt Bieber for an easy score to boost that margin to 12-7 at the quarter.
Lingo’s pair of triples early in the second brought Hamilton back to a 14-13 deficit but in the span of the next 3:50, Fayette rang up 14 straight points to put the game away.
Bieber’s putback began the run, then Lichtenwald and Leininger each tripled to make it 22-13 with 2:59 left in the half.
In the next 49 seconds, Bieber, Carter Lavinder, and Leininger each picked a Marine pass and scored at the other end to open up a 28-13 gap.
“We talked about at the beginning of the year that defense will be our identity,” Lindsay expressed. “We are going to go as our defense goes.
“We left a lot of shots out there tonight, some didn’t quite roll in, they all looked really good, shots are going to come and go but as long as we stick to it defensively, we will be ok.”
Lingo stopped the scoring salvo by hitting a pair from the line to only make it 28-15 at the break. The Eagles only shot 11-31 but took advantage of 14 first half turnovers by the Marines.
Fayette hit another run in the third, this one 13-2 to widen the margin. Up 33-18, Bieber went hi-lo to Lavinder for a bucket, Lichtenwald and Leininger each hit from outside the arc, then after Larson Dilts scored for Hamilton, Bieber hit from mid-key and Ethan Sperling found Dane Andrews inside for a three-point play to make it 46-20 after the third.
Dawson Schang and Zack Oehlers hit for scores that pushed the margin to 58-22 with 4:14 left to institute the running clock rule.
Lichtenwald’s 18 paced Fayette. Leininger added 11 and Bieber 10 for the Eagles. Lingo scored 17 for Hamilton, who had 20 turnovers on the night.
HAMILTON (30) – Farnham 0; Schieber 4; Lingo 18; Dilts 2; Bean 0; Schick 6; Taylor 0; Willibey 0; Buck 0; Totals: 3-5-9 – 30
FAYETTE (59) – Leininger 11; Lichtenwald 19; Ca. Lavinder 8; Oehlers 2; Bieber 10; Andrews 3; Johnston 0; Sperling 2; Schang 2; Dombrowski 2; Cr. Lavinder 0; Totals: 18-6-5 – 59
HHS 7 8 5 10 – 30
FHS 12 16 18 13 – 59