Airport battles through adversity to win first District title since 2005

CARLETON – Airport's football team got punched in the mouth and shot itself in the foot.

Still, the Jets kept coming.

Airport overcame a nearly disastrous start to Friday's Division 4 District final and rallied for a 29-15 victory over Dearborn Divine Child to capture the team's first District championship since 2005.

The Falcons looked unstoppable on the game's opening drive.

Divine Child charged 64 yards on seven plays to take a 7-0 lead and then recovered a fumble deep in Jet territory on Airport's first offensive snap. Less than 3 minutes into the game, Airport was staring at a potentially huge hole.

"This game could've went sideways really fast," Airport coach Jim Duffy said. "If it goes to 14-0 right there, it's probably a little bit different of a ball game where we're scraping."

That wasn't the game the Jets were ready to play.

Airport's defense held its ground after the fumble. Divine Child ran seven plays starting from the 29-yard line but picked up just 7 yards before settling for a field goal. That kick was blocked and momentum swung in the Jets' direction.

Senior Jack Mills picked up the ball after the blocked kick and returned it to midfield. It was a bit of redemption for Mills after losing the fumble on Airport's opening drive. It was his first fumble of the season.

"Sophomore year, I kind of struggled to hold onto the football so that was a big thing for me," Mills said. "I just had to keep a good mentality because I know there's four quarters in a football game and that was just the first three minutes of the game. There was a lot of football left to play."

Mills made up for his miscue and then some. He wore down the Divine Child defense throughout the game, rushing for 188 yards on 29 carries and adding another 29 yards on 3 catches. He scored Airport's third and final touchdown of the game in the second half on a 1-yard pitch and score.

Airport's offense also relied heavily on the leg of senior Nolan Zajac.

The Jets were in their own way often in the first half with three separate touchdown plays called back due to penalties. Those flags resulted in multiple field goal attempts for Zajac who connected on attempts from 28, 39, and 26 yards.

"He (Zajac) has such playmaking ability," Duffy said. "He's very unsung of our senior group because he does a lot of dirty work. ... He is the definition of a playmaker—it doesn't matter how you get him the ball or get him involved. I call him a Swiss army knife."

Zajac's first two field goals cut the Divine Child lead down to 7-6. His third kick early in the fourth quarter stretched the Jet lead to 15-7.

Zajac is 6-for-6 on field goals this season, but he has not attempted one since facing Riverview in Week 2 of the regular season.

"You always need to be ready," Zajac said. "It doesn't seem like much now because we won by two touchdowns, but it got us within one, 7-6, and helped us get up after that.

"I love it. I wouldn't want to do anything else."

Airport senior quarterback Cooper Nye ended the first half with a 2-yard touchdown run that gave the Jets their first lead of the game 12-7. Airport never trailed again and locked down defensively, holding Divine Child scoreless after its first drive until late in the fourth quarter.

"We were just more physical," Mills said. "At the start of the game, I think we were a little nervous. We haven't played in a District final in, I don't even know how long. But we settled in and played our football, played physical football and made some big plays that kind of sparked us."

Nye finished 9-of-16 passing for 136 yards and also rushed 11 times for 90 yards and two scores. He scored on a 32-yard run in the fourth quarter to make it 22-7 just two plays after Zajac picked off Divine Child quarterback Bryce Borgus.

Colin Nowak had 3 catches for 73 yards.

"As a coaching staff, our goal has always been to try and not only get to the playoffs but be competitive and win playoff games," Duffy said. "And I am so proud of these kids. We have a tough group of young men that just do things the right way. It's a credit to them and their hard work. This feels really, really good."

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Airport battles through adversity to win first District title since 2005