Alter High School football coach Ed Domsitz expects to hear from former players this week. Not because the Knights rallied for a 42-35 win over Kettering rival Fairmont, but because they had to throw the ball 30 times to do it.

“That’s unbelievable to say the least coming from Alter,” senior quarterback Malik Zaire said. “We just had to find a way to get it done and we did.”

Said Domsitz: “If I’ve learned anything over the years it’s that you better take advantage of your personael. If we can win football games by throwing the football that we might otherwise lose — we’ll throw the football.”

They did Friday.

Zaire completed 18-of-30 passes for 251 yards and five TDs and ran for another 171 yards and a score, as Alter clawed from behind with two fourth quarter touchdowns to earn its eighth straight win in the annual season-opening series at Roush Stadium. Fairmont led 35-27 after three quarters.

On the Knights’ game-winning drive, Zaire hurdled a defender on a 14-yard run to set up his ensuing game-winning touchdown pass to junior Jordan George. Fairmont’s final threat ended in an incompletion at midfield with 60 seconds left.

“He’s pretty impressive,” Domsitz said of his QB, who is headed to Notre Dame. “That’s why he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the country.”

Fairmont’s QB was pretty good too.

Senior Tom West led the Firebirds to touchdowns on their first four possessions and looked to have Fairmont right where it wanted to be when he converted a key fourth and inches late in the third quarter. But that drive sputtered afterward and so did Fairmont’s offense in the fourth. West completed 27-of-40 passes for 310 yards and four TDs.

The Firebirds finished with 409 yards of offense, while Alter racked up 525.

Despite the loss, Fairmont can take solace in the fact that it scored more points on Alter than it had in the teams previous 10 games. For the ninth time in that stretch though, the Firebirds failed to win.

“We knew Fairmont was going to be a better team than last year and when they came out, they showed they were much improved,” Zaire said.

Added Domsitz: “Fairmont played how I expected they would. If they play like the rest of the year they are going to win their fair share of football games.”

With Zaire under center, Alter will too.