Falcons spread wings in loss

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, October 26, 2005

It was a perfect night for the South Whidbey High homecoming game Friday: weather in the upper forties, no wind, 700 fans in the stands, cheerleaders and Pep Band at the top of their game.

Unfortunately, the Falcons on the field were on par for the season, remaining winless by losing 20-0 to the Granite Falls Tigers.

But Falcon Coach Mark Hodson, violating his own pre-season ground attack plan, surprised onlookers by instigating a passing offense, allowing sophomore replacement quarterback Kyle Hoch to show his stuff.

Though the team lost 20-0, Hoch demonstrated “The most productive and efficient passing game of the year,” Hodson said.

Hoch threw seven passes, and connected on five for 83 yards (with one interception), most of the time to halfback Ian Ward. Ward had three catches for

69 yards.

On the ground, halfback Keith Ryder racked up 83 yards and Jordan Streitler wasn’t far behind with 79.

“The team had good spirit at the start, they were working hard for a win before all the fans,” Ryder said. “Kyle has really stepped it up; he did one heck of a job out there.”

The first quarter was scoreless as Hoch and company tried their best to defeat the huge Tiger defense (of the 10 Tigers over 200 pounds, three exceeded 250).

Just as the second period began Granite Falls’ Billy Villegas finally managed to steer his team to a touchdown, though the two-point conversion was squashed by the Falcon defense.

South Whidbey’s number one fan shouted encouragement until he grew hoarse. Watching on crutches, quarterback Danny Parra wasn’t thrilled with his new role on the sidelines: “It feels horrible.”

With 7:05 left in the second quarter, Hoch hurled a 25-yard pass to Ward and Ryder broke through for another first down.

But on the verge of a touchdown, on fourth and short Ryder tripped and the Tigers took over on downs. Granite Falls’ running back Julian Gamache piled on the yards and threatened to score when a fumble on the

6-yard line gave it back to the Falcons.

Maybe they were going to win, but South Whidbey would make them work for every inch. Just before the half, the Tigers scored again and it was 14-0.

Then, with 40 seconds left, the crowd erupted as Ward caught a 43-yard pass and it seemed a Falcon goal was assured.

But Hoch was intercepted with seconds left as homecoming floats gathered in the distance.

Back on the field, Granite Falls scored their final TD with 7:02 left in the third quarter and it appeared the Falcons had folded.

Not so, though. Early in the fourth quarter, Streitler had a breakaway run to the 5-yard line. Ryder lost a yard, then Streitler powered his way to the 1-foot line.

Ryder then blasted through for the touchdown but an illegal motion call brought it back to the 5 and the Tigers managed a gallant goal-line stand.

High in the stands, announcer Michael McInerney had the final word: “It was exciting while it lasted.”

And fast, too, or so it seemed to Hoch.

“Everything went by so quick,” he recalled. “Both the offense and defense were awesome at the start. But we made some minor mistakes and they capitalized, big time. It was a pretty painful loss.”

Hoch said the coach told him at the half to “just play my game.”

Hodson noted outstanding defensive play from Max Burr and Taylor Johnson, plus great efforts from defensive tackles Trapper Rawls and David Monel, both freshmen.

Friday, the team travels to Sultan for their last game. Coach Hodson noted the Turks are recovering from a 56-20 drubbing from Archbishop Murphy last week.

“We beat them the last two years, but they’re strong, with a lot of seniors,” Hodson said. “We plan to go out with a win and all the guys are gearing up for that.”