Chester breaks losing skid to Fairfield Central, completes 10-0 regular season

If Chester’s football program is marking its growth like a child, then Fairfield Central is the wall where the Cyclones draw a little line each year.

In 2015, Fairfield Central hammered Chester 40-7 in a game where Chester coach Victor Floyd thought his team caved, physically and spiritually. A year later, the Griffins scored the game’s final 15 points to beat Chester. Last fall, Fairfield Central’s 10th straight win in the series, the Griffins outscored the Cyclones 15-0 in the final quarter of a game in which Chester doomed itself with over 200 yards in penalties.

But the Cyclones are finally taller than their bullying neighbors from the south. Chester pulled away from the Griffins in the second half Friday night thanks to two Zion Mills interceptions and four Pha’Leak Brown touchdown runs for a 34-15 win, capping a 10-0 regular season, the school’s first unbeaten regular season since before desegregation, with a Region 4-3A championship.

“It feels good, but we’ve got a bigger picture,” Brown said. “But right now, we’re gonna enjoy this win.”

Roared on by a traveling support that overflowed the visitor’s stands, Chester marched down the field on the game’s opening drive, Brown punching into the end zone from three yards. Fairfield Central’s answer was a 20-yard field goal to halve the Cyclones’ lead late in the first quarter.

Chester lost starting QB Zan Dunham to a banged up should shoulder in the first half, but Stan Mills filled in fine. He led the Cyclones down the field for their second score, smashing in for a 1-yard TD with 8 seconds left in the first half. Brown scored the 2-point conversion for a 14-3 lead.

“He’s taken a lot of snaps, whether it’s quarterback, running back or defense,” Floyd said about his Swiss Army knife, Stan Mills. “He came through tonight when we needed him.”

Chester hit the kickoff out of bounds and the Griffins made the visitors hurt on the re-kick. Fairfield Central’s Will Barber returned it 75 yards for a TD as time expired to make it 14-9 at the half.

“We went in the locker room and talked, said don’t get caught up in all that,” Zion Mills said afterward. “We knew we had to come back out here and stop them on D, and score.”

The Cyclones did that exactly. Zion Mills picked off a Griffins pass, leading to a 21-yard Brown TD sprint.

Fairfield Central again cut into the lead to make it 20-15, but the Cyclones scored the next two touchdowns, both by Brown, with one set up by a diving Zion Mills interception.

“Both of his picks were big, but that second one was an amazing play,” said Floyd.

The Cyclones have a bye next week, and then will be off the following week as teams impacted by Hurricane Florence make up games. So Chester gets a two-week break before the 3A state playoffs commence on Nov. 9.

That should give Cyclones QB Dunham some time to recover from his bum shoulder. But Chester barely skipped a beat with him sidelined. Stan Mills moved the team up and down the field, and Zion Mills, Ja’Rel Hill -- who had several long catches that set up scores -- and Brown shouldered the load, stopping the rivalry losing streak, completing a perfect regular season and winning a region title all in one Friday night.

This story was originally published October 19, 2018 at 9:43 PM.