Showing its defensive strength, the South Whidbey High School football team won 7-3 in its season opener at Friday Harbor Friday, Sept. 6.

Falcon coach Mark Hodson said before the game that he expected his club to excel on defense, and the players backed up that comment by keeping the Wolverines out of the end zone.

Friday Harbor’s defense wasn’t bad either, and the game was a “slugfest,” according to Hodson.

South Whidbey helped itself against the stout Friday Harbor defense by not committing any offensive penalties, putting together just enough offense to pull out the victory.

“I was shocked,” Hodson said. “No false starts, no holding penalties. You don’t see that very often, especially in a first game.”

Aidan Colman punched in the game’s only touchdown with a 2-yard run with 4:30 left in the first quarter.

Friday Harbor kicked a field goal in the third quarter.

Other than the two scoring drives, neither team got within the 30-yard line as the two teams battled it out in the middle of the field.

Friday Harbor featured a “huge offensive line,” Hodson said. “It may be the biggest we face all year.”

“Our guys up front played really well,” Hodson said, led by Lewis Mattson and Jakob Snelling.

“I thought the boys tackled well,” he added.

Hodson liked how his team received help throughout the lineup.

“Just about everyone who played, played well,” he said. “It was a good start to the season; it gave us some confidence.”

It was the second year in a row that South Whidbey edged Friday Harbor. The Falcons nipped the Wolverines 20-19 in the 2018 season opener.

After beating a smaller school — Friday Harbor is in the 2B classification — 1A South Whidbey now takes on a much bigger one, 3A West Seattle, in the home opener at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13.

“We should see some pretty good athletes,” Hodson said.

West Seattle lost 43-7 to perennial power North Thurston in its season opener Friday.