“I really like how the guys stuck together,” GFW head coach Pat Hentges said. “We made a couple mistakes early, and the guys just fought back. They trusted what we’ve practiced and they trusted each other. That was our theme this week, trust. Then of course we were very physical — we have to be. We just don’t have enough guys. We’ve got to be physical and do our jobs.”

GFW scored on all three of its possessions in the third quarter, while defensively the Firebirds limited the Crusaders to two four-and-outs and a fumble.

“Ultimately, [we knew] the game’s not over,” GFW’s Garrett Stegeman said. “Keep on driving. The thing we always say is GFW owns the third and the fourth quarter. You’ve got to keep it going the whole game.”

GFW now travels to take on undefeated and top-seeded Cleveland, whom the Firebirds fell to 29-8 earlier in the season, on Saturday.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop’s Luke Bastian (66) celebrates a big defensive stop during a Section 2A Football Tournament game against Mayer Lutheran on Tuesday at Gibbon Football Field.

“Our first game against them, we gave up a touchdown on the first drive,” GFW senior Matthew Lee said. “We’ve just got to play strong defense and play competitive defense the whole time.”

The windy day played to GFW’s advantage, with strong gusts sweeping the field all game limiting the passing attack of the Crusaders offense.

“We knew the wind was going to be an issue for them,” Hentges said. “Their quarterback is a stud. He can throw the ball around, and everybody knows we struggle with pass defense at times. We knew we had the wind with us and we’d be able to try to manipulate what they do. The boys went out there and executed very well.”

Stegeman led the Firebirds offense on the day, taking 18 carries for 216 yards and four scores.

“It was awesome, but honestly it all started at the line,” Stegeman said. “The line were the ones that made those touchdowns, 100 percent.”

Stegeman was the beneficiary of a few well-executed trap runs, which sprung GFW rushers for big gains all day against the Crusaders.

“It’s the Power T,” Hentges said. “Everybody knows that’s the play you have to stop. Our fullback did a great job with his patience and exploding through, Garrett did, and all of our fullbacks really. And then our line does a great job communicating, depending on what defense they see, they’re the ones that call what we’ve got to do, and they do a great job.”

Also for GFW, Cayson Gosewisch had 13 carries for 50 yards and two touchdowns, while Lee had nine carries for 49 yards and a score. Regie Mattes added 32 yards on three carries and a touchdown. Overall, the GFW offense out-gained Mayer Lutheran 378 to 113 in an all-around dominant game.

“Everyone just did their jobs and they did them well,” Lee said. “I fumbled at the beginning, but then we came back and kept on scoring and played good defense.”

GFW started off the game on the wrong foot, fumbling on the opening possession and allowing a 22-yard run by Mayer Lutheran quarterback Gabriel Shimanski to put the Crusaders on the board. However, the Firebirds bounced back with a five-play, 69-yard touchdown drive capped off by a 39-yard touchdown run by Stegeman to cut the lead to 7-6.

On the kickoff, the wind blew back the ball right towards GFW, with Mason Ahlbrecht coming up with the recovery to maintain possession. GFW made it into the red zone before another fumble stopped the drive, but Mayer Lutheran fumbled it right back at the 10-yard line, allowing Lee to rush it in from there for a 12-7 lead.

The GFW defense stood tall on the next drive, with a tackle for loss by Luke Bastian turning it over on downs. The Firebirds got big runs from Lee and Stegeman before Gosewisch ran it in from 1 yard out to give GFW an 18-7 lead. Bastian and Lee combined for a big tackle for loss on Shimanski on the following drive, leading to the lone punt of the day, which went just 20 yards in the wind. GFW took it from the 45-yard line and went the remaining 55 yards in under three minutes, ending in a 6-yard rush by Gosewisch to take a 24-7 lead into halftime.

Mayer Lutheran fumbled on the opening drive of the second half, with Jose Oscar Farias Banda recovering the ball for GFW to start its big third quarter.

“They didn’t get first downs on us,” Lee said. “We took the ball and scored.”

A 5-yard touchdown run by Stegeman made it a 30-7 game, then after another fourth-down stop by Bastian, GFW scored in just two plays as Stegeman broke away for a 44-yard score and a 36-7 lead. Finally, one more fourth-down stop, this time by Banda, set up another big 23-yard touchdown run by Stegeman to complete the 20-0 quarter.

Mayer Lutheran finally got going again going into the fourth quarter, adding 7 more points on a 2-yard rush by Shimanski with 5:40 to play, but GFW was able to drain most of the remaining clock off, with Mattes ripping off a 36-yard run to score with 32 seconds left.

Cleveland presents a tough matchup for GFW, now 5-4 on the season and Hentges said the Firebirds will have to bring their best to Saturday’s matchup.

“I’ve been cheering for them for a long time, but not when we play them,” Hentges said. “We’re excited. We get another opportunity to practice. We spend three more days together and then get a game on Saturday. That means a lot to this crew, they love being together, so it’s a blessing to be able to do that. We’ll focus on these three days, gameplan for Cleveland, and hopefully we perform better than we did the last time we played them.”