SEAN BOSTON
Hutch Post
LANGDON, Kan. — Kyle Finder took over the Fairfield High School football program prior to the 2023 season with a bare cupboard. The Falcons had went 0-9 in 2022, and were 6-75 since the 2015 season.
"The kids were tired of losing, and the community was tired of losing," Finder said. "You saw the immediate buy-in. I showed up the first day and the weight room was packed. Just the commitment level the kids have put in has been outstanding."
Finder and the Falcons finished 1-8 in 2023, with it's only win coming in its final game of the season over Hartford, 56-46. The win ended a 17-game losing streak for the Falcons.
"That win summed up our entire season," Fairfield head coach Kyle Finder said. "It was a hard fought game, and our guys really didn't know how to celebrate. We had to take some time to almost teach them how to celebrate with what was going on. The smiles on their face meant everything and it was a great way to end the season."
Fairfield is off to a 2-0 start this year with wins over Hartford (54-26) and Pratt-Skyline (30-12). The two wins were very different from each other, as Hartford was more of an air-raid offense, while Skyline wanted to ground and pound.
"We feel comfortable just going up against different styles," Finder said. "We feel we have a good game plan going into each week, it's just going to come down to the players playing and the coaches coaching, and hopefully we can get things to roll our way."
The Falcons will host Reno County Homeschool tonight at 7 p.m. in Langdon. The Sabres have put up 118 points through the first two weeks in wins over Stafford and Norwich.
"They are very athletic and don't make many mistakes," Finder said. "They are very well coached with coach Smith over there. He was actually my high school coach for two years of high school. He has done a real nice job with that program. They've got a quarterback that can throw the ball on a rope, so it's going to be a real test for us trying to slow down their passing attack, but also their rushing attack as well."
The last winning season for Fairfield High School football came in 2014, a 5-4 finish.
"It's been a long time and these guys know it and the community knows it," Finder said. "I think it's been since 1995 that we have made the playoffs, so we're just going to take it one game at a time, but feel like we can get there this year."
Over the past nine seasons, the Falcons have been outscored 4,188-1,038. During that stretch, Fairfield is averaging 12.8 points, while allowing 51.7 points.
Finder can sense the buy-in and support not only in the school, but also the community after the strong start.
"I feel like we've got a lot of buy-in from the community and the kids," Finder said. "They talk about it being fun to go to practice now, it used to be that they'd go to practice dreading some things. Even last year when we were trying to build the thing, they would go to practice knowing that we're going to get beat on Friday night. That hasn't been the case this year. It's one of those things where guys are looking forward to it, and people are stepping up to help and the community has bought in. It's been a real nice change of pace. There is just a different feel in the hallway this year."
The process of getting the players bought in hasn't been easy for Finder and his staff, especially with most players having to balance summer workouts with working on the farm.
"One of our captains, Chase Combs is getting the feed ready the night before just so he can feed animals before 6 a.m. weights," Finder said. "After he'd get done with that he'd go to basketball practice and then go home to work. There are just a lot of guys that make those sacrifices just so they can be a part of this. Another thing is our school doesn't sit in a community, so everybody has to drive a ways to get to weights, so there is also a financial sacrifice they have to make as far as it goes for gas money and it can just be a challenge, but our guys have been up to the challenge."
Fairfield is led by its rushing attack, which has produced 629 yards through the first two weeks, nearly eight yards per carry.
The ground game is led by senior quarterback Connor Fowler, who Finder wanted to increase his production, but decrease his workload this year.
"It has been a real joy to watch," Finder said. "He's been over 100 yards rushing in both games on 14-18 carries a game. A lot of that has been thanks to guys like Brodie Snodgrass stepping up, Gage Brown, William McIver, Jalen Busick, a freshman for us, those guys have stepped up for us and have been able to take some carries here and there."
Finder says Snodgrass is off to a strong start with over 100 yards rushing in the first two games, as well.
"We knew Brodie has the athleticism, we just wanted to find the right place for him to be successful," Finder said. "He's scary fast in the open field and is not afraid to run through a guy as well, even though he's one of our smaller backs. He played the second half of the Hartford game on a swollen/sprained ankle and goes for 193 yards and four touchdowns."
The 300-plus yards rushing per game through the first two weeks is due to a lot of big blocks put on by the offensive line.
"We have a very young offensive line, but we have a very experienced offensive line," Finder said. "Most of them were freshmen, sophomores or juniors last year, and even though we have this experience from last season, we still only have one senior on that offensive line this year. These young guys have really taken off, guys like Gavin Foster just playing aggressive all the time, Garrett Lanning, Chase Combs, two guys that we just love being mean up front. Lukas and Layne Schwab have really set the tone for our tight ends and do a really nice job with that. Steven Nisly has been an addition this year that has really helped out, and Dominic Sader is another guy that when he's called upon does a really nice job for us up front."
As Finder continues to try and turn the Falcons' program in the right direction, he looks back at the path that has led the former Kingman County kid back to this area after coaching in far northwest Kansas.
"Going out west was a real blessing, because I was able to get into coaching," Finder said. "I had never really seen an eight-man game, and then we dropped to six-man, which I had never even heard of before. I learned a ton out there, but it got to be kind of old traveling six hours to see my wives family in Kansas City and four hours to see my folks. We just had our first child last summer, so just getting closer to family has been a real blessing. We loved Tribune and the people out there, but it was time to get back closer to home. I was lucky enough Fairfield took a chance on a first-year principal."
Finder appeared on this week's Reno County Coaches Show on KWBW Radio. Click here to listen to the episode. Finder appears with EAGLE Media Sports Director Sean Boston at the 12:30 mark in the episode.