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Basic stays grounded, wins
Jeff Cahill practically grew up on the football field at Basic.
On Thursday night, the first-year coach pulled off one of the biggest victories on that field in recent memory.
The 10th-ranked Wolves defeated rival Green Valley 33-28 to lock up the Southeast League’s top playoff seed.
“It feels fantastic,” said Cahill, a 1992 Basic graduate. “I’ve been in this program for a long time. I played in this program, and before that when I was a little kid, my dad coached here. I’ve been around this school forever.
“Just to get a win like this and get a championship on the same night, there’s no better feeling in the world.”
Basic (7-3, 5-1 Southeast), Green Valley (7-3, 5-1) and Del Sol all finished 5-1 in the Southeast, but Basic got the top seed on tiebreakers.
Basic has been known more as a passing team than a running team with its spread offense in recent years, but the Wolves clinched the win on the ground Thursday.
Basic rushed for 280 yards, 220 of them in the second half. The Wolves sealed the win with a 13-play drive that took 7 minutes, 20 seconds in the fourth quarter.
“That last drive was a 96-yard drive — 12 runs and one pass,” Cahill said. “Running the ball is something we’ve been really, really focusing on in practice, and it paid off tonight.”
The one pass on that final drive turned out to be a big one. On fourth-and-4, Basic quarterback Robby Faiman hit receiver Justin Burdno on a quick out. Burdno slipped a tackle, managed to stay in bounds and sprinted down the sideline for a 29-yard touchdown to put Basic up 33-21 with 3:03 to play.
“Justin, he had a great catch on that play,” said Faiman, who rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 119 yards and two TDs. “The guy missed a tackle, and he just tiptoed down the sideline. It was a great feeling. Once that happened, I knew we were going to win the game.”
Said Cahill: “It was a great pass by Robby and a great run after the catch. That’s why he’s one of the best receivers in the state.”
Basic trailed 14-7 at halftime but marched 60 yards on its first second-half drive to tie the score on a 10-yard touchdown run by Faiman.
The Wolves then took advantage of a Green Valley miscue on the ensuing kickoff to take the lead. The Gators’ Kyle Larimer made a leaping catch near the goal line in an attempt to keep the kick from going into the end zone for a touchback. But he lost his balance, and his knee touched down inside the 1.
On the next play, Basic’s Anthony Ireland stripped Quincy Bagsby in the end zone and covered the fumble for a touchdown and a 21-14 lead.
After Green Valley tied the score, Faiman scored on a 29-yard run to put Basic up for good. Charles Phillips added 104 rushing yards for Basic.
Bagsby rushed for 112 yards and three touchdowns for sixth-ranked Green Valley, which will be the Southeast’s No. 2 seed for the playoffs.
“We’re in first place for the playoffs; we’re the Southeast champs,” Faiman said. “That’s great. More importantly, we win the Henderson bowl. We haven’t had it for five years.”