Fairview's Caden Jennings is defended by a Parker player.

FAIRVIEW — Fairview is heading to the semifinals for the first time in school history.

The Aggies (12-1) pulled away with a 44-27 victory against No. 7 Parker on Friday night in the Class 5A quarterfinals at Dafford Smith Stadium. Fairview, which is riding a 10-game win streak, will play second-ranked Pleasant Grove next week with a state championship berth on the line. 

“What an honor and blessing,” Fairview coach George Redding said. “You just love the opportunity to represent your school and community. That’s really big for us.”

Though the Aggies are excited to make history, they aren’t satisfied.

“We are on top of the world, but we don’t want to be runner-up,” sophomore running back Eli Frost said. “We are going for that state championship.”

The game’s first six drives resulted in touchdowns as Fairview and Parker (11-2) were knotted at 21-all midway through the second quarter.

That streak came to an end after Fairview defensive back Parker Martin jumped a route on a deep pass by Parker quarterback William Shelton for an interception late in the first half.

“We knew we had to get a stop,” Martin said. 

Three plays later, Frost scored on a 40-yard run to put the Aggies up 27-21 with 1:48 until halftime.

Parker took the ensuing drive inside the red zone, but Fairview kept the Thundering Herd off the scoreboard again as the first half came to an end. 

“It was a little bit of bend but don’t break for our defensive guys,” Redding said. “We were giving up stuff underneath, but we felt like that was important so we didn’t give up big, explosive plays. I thought our defensive guys did a great job.”

Fairview carried the momentum into the second half and scored 23 unanswered points. Frost led the charge as he finished with five of the Aggies’ six touchdowns. He racked up 264 yards on 25 carries for an average of 10.6 yards per touch. 

“Eli works tremendously hard,” Redding said. “All of our guys do. They are seeing the benefit of it.”

Fairview capped the opening drive of the third quarter with a 7-yard touchdown by Frost to extend its lead to 34-21. 

Parker later attempted a fake punt unsuccessfully, and the Aggies took over at the Thundering Herd 30 late in the third. 

“Normally their punter is 14 yards back, and he was about 11,” Redding said. “You knew something was up. Our guys did a great job with that.”

Fairview answered by using a good bit of the clock as the drive ended with a 27-yard field goal by Elijah Guyton to extend its lead to 37-21 with 10:54 remaining. 

The Aggies’ final score was Frost’s fifth touchdown of the night, this time from 9 yards out. 

Ju’Warren Minnifield’s 1-yard touchdown with 3:20 remaining was Parker’s first touchdown since scoring on its first three drives of the game.

Fairview totaled 421 yards compared to Parker’s 384. The majority of both teams’ yardage came on the ground as the Aggies totaled 391 yards rushing. The Thundering Herd tallied 253 rush yards.

Tyler Simmons finished with 77 yards, which included a 40-yard scamper for the Aggies’ other touchdown. Martin added 30 yards passing and 50 rushing. 

Parker was led by Khalifa Keith (142 yards rushing and one touchdown) and Shelton (131 yards passing with one touchdown).