The 24 hours leading up to Fairview’s county matchup versus Hanceville were — without question — some of the toughest in George Redding’s tenure with the program.

Not only did the eighth-year coach receive dreadful news late Thursday night that his Aggies wouldn’t be able to host any of their home games, but he also had to relay the message to his squad and, more importantly, nine tremendous seniors.

Despite the distractions, the rush and the uncertainty of the season opener, Fairview showed Friday night that it wasn’t the field that mattered — Cullman’s plush Oliver Woodard Stadium in this instance — but the team that went out there and played.

Hayden Maples accounted for three touchdowns, the Aggie D showed out, and the Purple and Gold picked up a terrific 27-12 victory over a very formidable Bulldog squad.

“There’s nothing that can prepare you for what we had to go through,” said Redding about Dafford Smith Stadium’s closure. “We’re getting ready for business as usual and everything just gets flipped upside down. I was really proud of our players and all of the ones who came together to make this happen. It has been a whirlwind, but we got through it and got the win.”

After a tepid start, Hanceville’s Dant’e Reese put the Dawgs on the scoreboard early with a 52-yard scoring run during the midway point of the first quarter.

Meanwhile, the Aggies were spinning their wheels on offense until a muffed punt gave them the ball with solid field position at the start of the second frame.

Five plays later, the senior quarterback Maples plowed ahead into the end zone for a game-tying, 1-yard sneak.

The score seemed to wake up Fairview’s D, as Sambo Woods picked off a Branen Hurst pass on Hanceville’s next possession before returning it to the Bulldog 5-yard line.

It was there Maples scrambled for yet another touchdown on a 3-yard rollout to stake his team to a 12-6 cushion with 9:26 left in the second quarter.

Maples, who’s far more used to making his plays with his arm and not his feet was a little surprised himself following a fleet-footed performance.

“It was real different for sure,” he said. “We weren’t throwing or catching it too well early, so I just tried to step up and make some plays for my team. It just worked out for me I guess.”

The ensuing Fairview possession showed the full effect of its offensive unit at peak condition. The Aggies marched 12 plays in four-plus minutes, mixed in the run and the pass, and scored on a 5-yard toss from Maples to Woods to punctuate the first half with a 20-6 advantage.

“Hayden played tremendously,” Redding said. “It didn’t really go our way early. We had to play behind the chains a little and made some mistakes. Once we got settled in and got the deer- in-the-headlights look out of us, I thought we played really well for the most part.”

The Bulldogs did their absolute best to keep it close with the running game. Following a Fairview punt to open up the second half, coach Danny Miller’s team engineered an amazing 24-play drive that culminated in a Hurst 1-yard scoring run and chewed more than 13 minutes off the clock.

Unfortunately for the “road” team, its defense couldn’t make a stop when it needed to most — the Aggies iced the game on a 2-yard dash from Austin Harris — resulting in a tough loss to open the season.

“We just made too many mistakes to win tonight,” Miller said. “For us to have a chance, we’ve got to eliminate all that. They did what they needed to do. We didn’t. I’m really proud of the way the guys played tonight, though. We did some good stuff that we can build on moving forward.”

Maples finished his night 12 of 20 through in the air for 138 yards and a touchdown to go along with 12 rushing yards and the two big scores.

Harris jumpstarted his junior campaign with 128 yards on 19 carries. Woods had five catches for 33 yards, while teammate Bailey Strong hauled in four passes for 62 yards in the victory.

For Hanceville, Reese was a monster in his first-ever start at running back. The senior toted 23 times for 130 yards. Hurst added 45 yards on nine carries as well. Christian James, Austin Coker and Alex Armstrong all combined for 27 yards on eight carries.

“It feels great to start out 1-0,” Maples said. “It was tough for us learning the news about our field. We talked as a team about it, and we couldn’t come out here and use that excuse had we lost. It’s nice to have a home away from home for us the rest of the year so we don’t have to go on the road.”

Added Redding: “These kids played hard, and they should be really proud of this win. We wanted to be two points better in last year’s game, but we weren’t able to do it. This go-round, the kids were able to get over that obstacle and answer all of that for themselves on the field. The Bible tells us, ‘You’re like smoke, you’ll only be here for a little while.’ We want to make an impact in the time we have this season.”

Fairview (1-0) will travel to Randolph for a region bout next Friday, while Hanceville (0-1) heads home to take on Winston County in a region game of its own.

The Aggies’ remaining home games will be played at Cullman.