By Greg Billing for the Dayton Daily News

His coach calls him Fairmont's X factor. Alumni playing against Lamar Skeeter had another name. "We had an alumni game recently and one of the alumni yelled out, 'That guy's the fastest human on earth. Somebody stop him,' " Firebirds coach John Boucuvalas said. While Skeeter's speed might be slightly overstated, his importance to Fairmont's season isn't. The junior returns as one of the Miami Valley's premier scoring threats after scoring 21 goals in 26 games last season. But Skeeter — who should challenge Chris Rolfe's school record the next two seasons — would rather net goals of a different variety.

"I think about that, but whether I break the record or not is not the most important thing to me," Skeeter said. "Right now, I'm just thinking about finishing out this season and going to state."

With eight returning starters off a Division I district finalist, Fairmont might not be considered a long shot. Third-year varsity players in Chris Duggan (sweeper), Brent Wright (defender), Michael Schairbaum (center-midfield) and Ryan Young (defender) — all seniors — and junior Corey Wisenhunt (second-best 8 goals) have the Firebirds fired up.

"This is the year I've been looking forward to," Boucuvalas said. "(Skeeter's) support is going to be better than it's ever been. In soccer, you can really outplay a team and still lose. He's kind of an X factor that allows us to win when we should win."

Skeeter — who Boucuvalas calls his closer — has embraced another role with the Firebirds: set-up man. With teams focusing on Skeeter, he's looking to hand off a few more assists.

"That's perfect for me because it makes me harder to stop," said Skeeter, who honed his skills practicing with older brother Terell in the backyard. "Then, when they have the ball, they'll look for me just like I'll look for them. It's part of that team unity that will take us far."

Still, scoring remains Skeeter's forte. He enters this season with 32 career goals in just 37 games and is within striking distance of Rolfe's career-high 73. Rolfe is currently playing with the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer. Skeeter, also a standout basketball player, may have his choice of playing either sport in college.

"My favorite is basketball," he said. "Soccer, I don't like it as much, but I have a desire to go far with soccer, too. I think there is a greater opportunity in soccer. I'll be more than happy to play soccer at the college level and even further, if I'm lucky."

"He's a specialist," Boucuvalas said. "There are other guys (on the team) who might be better soccer players, but Lamar's kind of like a closer. He has a very defined role and he's excellent at it. He has real unique talents that very few players have. I think he can be on the (United States) national team someday."

For now, Skeeter's just as happy playing for the Firebirds. He's scored 15 goals in Fairmont's 10-0 preseason and added a pair in that alumni game. And he's not content as he continues to develop an accurate shot from 18 yards and deeper.

"I think it's just my determination," Skeeter said of the reason for his success. "I'm not worried about how many goals I'm scoring. I'm worried about what I can do to help the team win. The goals just kind of fall into place. ... I give a lot of respect to my teammates. If it wasn't for them I wouldn't have the success I have. It's a great group of guys and we play unselfish soccer."

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