FAIRVIEW — Outside the home locker room at Fairview High, the celebration was loud enough that you almost thought you were part of the team.

Inside, the blaring music and the high-fiving among the actual team didn’t disappoint.

With their 34-14 victory last Friday over Cullman County rival Good Hope, Fairview’s football team put the finishing touches on an 8-2 season and its second consecutive berth in the Class 4A state playoffs.

Afterwards, the celebration was raucous. And rightfully so.

Beating Good Hope didn’t affect the Aggies’ playoff standing — they were already locked in as the fourth seed out of Region 7 — but that was beside the point.

The point was this: With that 8-2 record, Fairview had just finished the fourth-best season in program history. And even though the Aggies’ first-round playoff assignment will be a tall task, it was time to celebrate.

Consider the numbers: In his third season at the helm in Fairview, head coach George Redding is in the middle of turning around a program that had been down for most of previous decade.

After making the playoffs and finishing 7-4 in 1999, the Aggies had posted just one winning season — 6-5 in 2003 — before Redding took over. Since his debut in 2007, Redding has now led Fairview to three straight winning records and two playoff appearances.

It started with a 6-4 campaign in 2007, when the Aggies rallied to win five of their final six games. And it continued last year, when they made the playoffs for the first time since 2003 and finished 6-5.

But that was just a prelude to this season, when Fairview won its first seven games and finished 8-2, its best mark since a 10-3 record and a third-round playoff appearance in 1994.

Only one other Fairview team in the last 20 years — the 1993 squad finished 9-2 — has posted a better regular-season record.

So, yeah, it was time to celebrate.

According to Redding, the turnaround started with this year’s seniors, a group that were sophomores when his tenure began in 2007.

“The guys have done that each of the last three years,” he said. “Each year, they’ve gotten better. And you’re always trying to improve on the year before.”

Redding is right: Even though Fairview finished as the fourth seed in Region 7 for the second year in a row, the Aggies actually finished in a three-way tie for second in the region. But because of tiebreakers, Fairview will have to visit Region 8 winner Deshler (9-1, 7-0) in the first round of the playoffs.

Taking down the third-ranked Tigers will be a tall task. After opening the season with a close loss against 5A Russellville, Deshler reeled off nine straight wins, holding six opponents to less than a touchdown and pitching two shutouts.

But for the last few weeks, Redding has been reminding his team that anything can happen. And rightfully so.

After all, his point was illustrated just a few weeks ago, when Fairview was competitive against North Jackson for most of the game.

Following that contest, Redding told his team there was a time Fairview wouldn’t have been competitive with a team like North Jackson. And there was a time when an 8-2 regular-season record would have seemed out of reach.

But that time is over. Instead, this group is leaving behind a new legacy.

“We’ve talked a lot about trying to leave a good legacy,” said Redding. “You’re always going to leave a legacy, good or bad, and I think these guys are going to leave a good one behind. And it’s not just what they’ve done — it’s how they’ve done it.”

That part about how the Aggies have done it? With class — both in wins and losses.

Wins and losses aside, that’s not a bad legacy to leave behind.

Michael Cummings can be reached by email at michaelc@cullmantimes.com or by phone at 734-2131, ext. 258.