Elder's Kyle Koester (Jeff Swinger photos) | ZOOM |

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        MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Elder's Kyle Koester ran for 233 yards and two touchdowns Saturday night. But it may have been his punting that was the difference in Elder's 21-14 win over Fairfield in a Division I regional semifinal game before a crowd 10,500 at Barnitz Stadium.

        Koester's 27-yard punt pinned Fairfield at its 1. After the Elder defense stopped Fairfield, Brett Bolger returned a punt out of the Fairfield end zone 40 yards for the game-winner.

        “Games like these come down to special teams,” Farfield coach Tom Grippa said. “Elder's special teams outplayed us. They deserved to win.”

        Koester, a 6-foot-1, 250-pound senior, wore Fairfield down with his pounding style in the second half after breaking TD runs of 29 and 53 yards in the first half. He finished with 39 carries, 25 in the second half.

Koester runs for a second-quarter TD | ZOOM |

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        “This is Kyle's kind of game,” Elder coach Doug Ramsey said. “We kept hammering at them.”

        Elder (8-3) moves on to play Colerain (12-0) in the regional finals next week. The site has not been set. Elder lost to Colerain 14-7 in the season opener.

        “It'll be fun,” Ramsey said. “We were No. 1 in preseason and they beat us. It's a chance to avenge that. But, more importantly, it's a chance to get the state semifinals.”

        Elder and Fairfield are two of the best passing programs in the city. But this game was played Woody Hayes style. Elder passed for 54 yards, Fairfield 79. Koester and Fairfield star runner Earl Haynes were the main options for their teams all night.

        Fairfield (8-4) controlled the game early. The Indians converted the first break of the the game into a 6-0 lead. Jimmy Carty intercepted a Matt Scholl pass at the Elder 40 and returned it to the 37.

Fairfield's Earl Haynes | ZOOM |

        Haynes then took over. He ran it on eight of the 10 plays of the drive before quarterback Brett Pogozalski took over from a yard out for the TD.

        Elder went three-and-out on its next drive — or so it looked. Fairfield was called for a clip on the punt, and Elder retained possession. Three plays later, Koester got outside and outran everyone for a 29-yard TD.

        Fairfield responded. Pogozalski hit John Spurlock for 28 yards to the Elder 48 on third-and-12. Haynes, who finished with 159 yards on 28 carries, had runs of 25 and 13 yards before scoring from the 2.

        Koester answered. Five plays later, he got loose along the right sideline and rumbled 53 yards for the score to tie the game at 14-14.

        “When I get in the secondary, I try to use moves because I'm not the fastest guy around,” Koester said.

Fairfield's Jimmy Carty signals a first-quarter TD | ZOOM |

        The half could not have been much for even: Fairfield had 167 yards in total offense, Elder 166. The second half was a different story.

        Elder dominated from the start in the second half. But all the Panthers had to show for it was a badly botched field goal attempt. Still, Elder was running the clock and gaining ground in the field-position battle.

        Then Koester's punt pinned the Indians at the 1.

        “I was trying to angle it earlier,”he said. “But that didn't work. So I just hit it high.”

        The Elder defense held. Fairfield was forced to punt from its 8.

        Brett Bolger fielded Sidd Sudan's punt at the Fairfield 40. “I didn't see anything to the left,” he said. “So I went back right. I was hoping to get a couple yards.”

        A crushing block Eric Schneider got Bolger free and he sprinted by everyone for the TD.

        That made 21-14 with 7:41 to play.

        Fairfield drove to Elder 36. The Indians gambled on fourth-and-7 with 6:10 to go. Pogozalski hit Ronnie West for the first down. But West was hit and fumbled. Joe Riestenberg recovered.

        The Panthers ate up six minutes of clock by running Koester.

        Fairfield would get the ball back until there were 74 seconds left. The Indians needed to go 80 yards with no timeouts.

        A Riestenberg interception ended the comeback hope.

        Elder ....... 0 14 0  7—21

        Fairfield ....... 6 8 0 0—14

        F—Pogozalski 1 run (kick failed)

        E—Koester 29 run (Reega kick)

        F—Haynes 2 run (Haynes pass from Pogozalski)

        E—Koester 53 run (Reega kick)

        E—Bolger 40 punt return (Reega kick)

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