Jeremy Iversen passed for 214 yards, Andy Wills rushed for 156 and sophomore Dane Guetlin visited the end zone twice in a football game Friday that may signal the team’s return to winning.
Playing on Waterman Field against Sultan, the Falcons proved that they are the best team in the southern half of the North Cascades Conference, beating the Turks 26-24 . The win is the team’s third consecutive and follows victories over Lakewood and Granite Falls in the previous two weeks.
It took the most offense South Whidbey has put out since opening the season with a 46-16 win over Blaine, and a goal-line stand with 46 seconds remaining to put Sultan away, but a hard-earned victory is often the sweetest.
Iversen, a senior quarterback for the team, said Friday’s game proved that the team is on its way to becoming great again. He said he and his teammates have a chance to post the first winning season for South Whidbey in about a decade.
“It shows these fans what we’re all about,” he said Monday.
What they were all about Friday night was fireworks. On their first drive of the night, the Falcons passed and ran their way down the field at a measured pace before Dane Guetlin grabbed a 10-yard zinger from Iversen and punched it into the end zone to put his team up 6-0.
Though this was a great way to start, the thrill of being in the lead didn’t last long. Three offensive plays later, Sultan had the lead, going up by a touchdown on a long pass play that caught the South Whidbey defense by surprise, and a 2-point conversion.
By the end of the quarter, Sultan was up 16-6. But despite numbingly cold air and frosty field conditions, the Falcons were able to get their receivers and runningbacks hot. The result was two touchdowns, one on a 2-yard Iversen run, the other on a 1-yard dash by Andy Wills. Though they couldn’t convert after the touchdowns, the Falcons still took an 18-16 lead into the locker room at halftime.
They’d lose the lead in the second half only to get it back on a 60-yard touchdown run by Wills and a 2-point conversion on an Iversen pass to Guetlin. Then, the Falcon line held to keep Sultan off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.
Wills, who has carried the team in terms of rushing this year, said no one player could win Friday’s game.
“It felt like the first time the whole team was playing together,” he said.
Now with a conference record of 4-3 and an overall record of 4-4, the Falcons travel to Mount Baker High School this Friday to try for a winning season. Though a win will not get the team into playoffs, it could tie them for third place in the NCC with Nooksack Valley, provided the Pioneers lose this week.
