FAIRHOPE – The Fairhope Storm won a dogfight against the Winchester Ducks 6-0 to remain unbeaten and advance to the American Football Alliance's Western Conference Finals next week.

The Storm will travel to Chattanooga to face the Eagles with a trip to the AFA Championship on the line next Saturday afternoon.

Neither offense was able to hit pay dirt but it was LaMarcus Farmer who ended the scoreless tie with a 95-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first half. 

From there, both teams battled but only one emerged victoriously.

“One of the proudest games I’ve ever coached, just how hard we played against a good team,” Head Coach Fred Riley Jr. said.

The Fairhope defensive unit pitched another playoff shutout and provided the energy with big turnovers down the stretch including a turnover on downs and a fumble recovery.

“Those guys take a lot of pride in not giving up a first down, much less points so we’re very proud of them,” Riley Jr. said.

The head coach said the Storm’s kicker, former Foley Lion Jose Mendoza, went down with an injury early in the game and altered the game plan a bit.

“The only way we were going to have a chance was not to turn it over, be conservative and hang in there,” Riley Jr. said. “We told our guys at halftime that’s what we were going to do, ‘Look there’s going to come a time in the fourth quarter when, offense, you’re going to make two first downs to win the game. They know we’re going to run it and we’re going to run it and have to figure it out,’ and that’s what it came down to.”

Fairhope was indeed able to execute that plan, punctuated by a tough run from Noah Hill where the running back was hit in the backfield but kept his legs churning and broke tackles to give the Storm a first down at the two-minute warning. Quarterback Darius Powell lined up in victory formation and knelt out the remaining time on the clock.

“Their defense played a heck of a game, give those guys credit,” said Powell, a former Foley Lion. “That was a very talented defense probably the best one we’ve seen but once again our defense played a heck of a game and allowed us to escape with a close one.”

Former Fairhope Pirate Braxton Loper said despite a minor shakeup on the offensive line, the group rallied together and will carry that mentality going forward.

“We had injuries on the offensive line, it was a slow start the whole game but we’re going to go in nose-first just like last time,” Loper said.

Heading into the west championship, Powell knew the Storm will be there for a reason.

“Let it all loose, we’ve worked hard to be at this point; there’s no reason to put any extra pressure, we all know it’s a big game but we’re going to have fun,” Powell said.

“Business,” Loper said simply of the team’s mentality.