Team of the week: Airport knows how to win close games

As the injuries have piled up for the Airport football team, so have the victories.

The Eagles are off a 5-0 start for the first time since 2011 despite losing several players because of injury, including tight end/defensive Alex Spooner (leg) and quarterback Brett Burnett, who is likely done for the season with an ACL injury.

“Every Friday night, we have lost a starter, but those guys have done a good job fighting adversity and binding together,” Airport coach Kirk Burnett said. “Doesn’t matter who gets the glory or who gets the ball. They have been switching a lot of different positions with all the injuries we have had. They play very hard, and we are pleased with that.”

The Eagles showed their toughness and resiliency last week in the 38-37 win against A.C. Flora. Airport rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit and then stopped the Falcons’ on the game-winning, two-point conversion try with 30 secondsremaining.

“They were in a good set in the wildcat formation, and we pretty much knew what they were going with,” Airport linebacker Zach Feaster said. “They were going to bounce it outside and try to go back inside. And we had bunch of guys to stop it. It was a very physical game.”

It also was another close game, something the Eagles have been used to in their unbeaten start. Of Airport’s five wins, three have been decided by a total of nine points.

Burnett expects more of the same when Region 5-3A play begins Friday at home against Swansea in the WACH Fox Sonic Rivals Game of the Week.

Burnett doesn’t want his team to become complacent after the 5-0 start and hammered that point to his team at the end of practice. His players are on board with their coach’s message.

“We have been talking about this for a while now with the class of 2016. We have been waiting for our senior year … because we know this could be the year Airport turns around and has a good football program,” quarterback Josh Tucker said.

“We are staying focused. Five and 0 is good, but we haven’t done anything yet. We are 0-0 now. If we lose these five games, the 5-0 we are right now doesn’t even matter.”

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 7:20 PM.