FALCON FOOTBALL UPDATE: South Whidbey falls to 4-1

The Tigers handed the South Whidbey Falcons their first loss of the season with a 28-19 homecoming win Friday night in Granite Falls.

The loss sets up a key game Friday in Langley against 5-0 Archbishop Murphy. South Whidbey is in second place in the Cascade Conference at 4-1, but a second loss would put the Falcons in a three-way tie with Cedarcrest and Granite Falls with South Whidbey at the bottom of the potential playoff picks.

"It's very, very important for us to win against Archbishop," said Falcons defensive coordinator Damian Greene.

"Friday night is very crucial. We are either conference champions and stand at the top or we drop to number four," he said.

Granite Falls scored the only touchdown of the first quarter last night, then jumped to a 14-0 lead early in the second.

South Whidbey came back with a touchdown to cut the Tigers' lead to 14-6.

The Falcons threatened to pull even closer, but turned the ball over on an interception — South Whidbey's second one of the year — near the Granite Falls 30-yard line and the Tigers capitalized on the mistake, going up 21-6.

The Falcons got close to the end zone near the end of the half, but time ran out before South Whidbey could finish its scoring drive.

"We never gave up," Greene said, noting the team scored twice in the second half to close the gap to 28-19.

But South Whidbey notched its third interception of the year right on a 1-yard line play, and Granite Falls escaped with the win.

"It was a tough loss, but our kids fought really hard to overcome adversity," Greene said.

Granite Falls improved to 3-2 with the win, and Cedarcrest also stands at 3-2 after a 47-20 home loss against Archbishop Murphy Friday.

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