By RUSSELL JONES
FAIRFAX — The Otter Valley Union High School football team upset previously unbeaten Fairfax on Saturday night, 38-36, to finish the regular season at 5-3 and earn the No. 3 seed in Division III.
“This was a good win for us,” said Otters coach Kipp Denis. “I knew this was what this team was capable of doing if we stay focused and don’t commit too many penalties.”
The Otters will host No. 6 Oxbow on Saturday at 1 p.m.
In a seesaw game at Fairfax (7-1), the Otters took the lead for good in the final minute when quarterback Alex Polli tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Chance Passmore.
In all, Polli completed 22 of 38 attempts for more than 300 yards and threw three TD passes to Passmore and one to Brady Diaz. Nathanial Blake ran for a total of 51 yards and rushed for a TD.
The Bullets’ Noah Brock ran for more than 218 yards and three TDs, and Jaxon Schaarschmidt ran for more than 100 yards and scored twice.
The win for the Otters shook up the standings in D-II. Fairfax dropped to the No. 2 seed and is a potential semifinal opponent for the Otters. Poultney will go into the tournament with a number one seed.
Denis will try to keep his team focused for the first round matchup against a team they have already beaten once.
“We knew going in that we had a home playoff game locked up,” Denis said. “Now they know what they can do, but we can’t be overconfident. We just showed that any team can beat anyone this past weekend.”
The Otters beat Oxbow 23-15 when the two met on Sept. 28. While Denis said they are just hitting their stride, it is still a young team that has only four seniors and a small junior class.“I’m proud of them for what they have done, going out there and getting that win,” he said.
