The South Whidbey football team got spanked hard Friday, losing 28-19 to the Granite Falls Tigers one week before facing the number two 2A team in the state, Archbishop Murphy.
“We got beat,” said Falcon coach Mark Hodson. “They outplayed us.”
South Whidbey is now 6-1 in the Cascade Conference [4-1 overall] with two more games left in the regular season.
The Tigers offense utilized the wishbone, double-tight, I-formation and spread offense to capture an early 14-0 lead over the Falcons in front of Granite Falls’ homecoming crowd.
Behind 7-0 in the first quarter, quarterback Hunter Rawls dashed in to try and even the score in the second period with a five yard keeper into the end zone to make it 7-6; TJ Russell’s point-after was wide to the left.
Granite Falls scored in the second quarter and was able to halt the Falcon offense for a 14-6 lead as the first quarter ended.
Although the Falcons stopped the Tigers again, the Tigers capitalized by intercepting the Falcons for just the second time this season and increased their lead. With time running out before halftime, the Falcons fell just short of scoring again and went in at halftime down 21-6.
Coming back in the second half, the Falcons looked determined to win the game by both running and passing, connecting on deep routes and slants.
In the third period, with the Tigers successfully halting the Falcon ground game, South Whidbey came alive thanks to a 75-yard pass from Rawls to Henry Mead. The Tigers, however, scored twice to make it 28-13 at the end of the third quarter.
By midway through the fourth quarter the Falcons had outscored the Tigers 13-7. With about five minutes left in the game and down 28-19, the Falcons again took control and marched the ball down the field.
“There was no doubt the Falcons would be able to win this game,” said Falcon defensive coordinator Damian Greene. “What certainly seemed to look like a touchdown pass was suddenly intercepted on the one-yard line by the Tigers who then took a few snaps to run out the clock.”
Rawls threw seven of 14 for 124 yards and Luke Hodson five of five for 104 but Mead only managed nine carries for 26 yards.
The Falcons rushed for 102 yards total, 244 yards through the air.
Linebacker Trapper Rawls played his personal-best defensive game by racking up nine tackles, eight assists and stopping the Tigers twice for a loss; Rawls now leads the Falcons with a combined total of 51 tackles.
Filling in for injured middle linebacker Jake Parrick, Chris Monell picked up seven tackles, two assists and a sack as he played right behind his big brother David Monell, last year’s league defensive MVP.
Free safety Jon Poolman had six tackles and four assists on the night.
“Regrettably, the Tigers completed eight of ten passes and didn’t give up a turnover,” Greene said on Tuesday.
At 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24 the Falcons welcome the Wildcats from AMHS to Waterman Field.
“The emphasis this week is focusing on not making mistakes, attention to the details and getting everyone healthy,” Hodson said.
Quarterback Rawls suffered a severe injury to his hand and may not play Friday; Hodson or Russell may be substituting for him.
If the Falcons win, they’ll stand alone as the top team in the conference and secure a home field game against a team from the Northwest Conference.
If the Falcons lose, they become tied with Cedarcrest and Granite Falls for the number-two spot. But because the league pre-draws tie-breaker positions before the season begins, the Falcons would fall to fourth behind Granite Falls and Cedarcrest respectively. This would put the Falcons in a pigtail game with a Northwest opponent. The winner of that game would then play against the top team from the Northwest Conference.
Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@www.south
whidbeyrecord.com.
