The road to the state crown ended a little early for the high school football team as the Fountain Hills Falcons were brought down by the Show Low Cougars during their semi-final match-up Saturday, Nov. 21.

The top-seeded Falcons first squared off with the 12th seeded Cougars back in early October. The boys in blue found victory in front of a home crowd that outing, besting Show Low 32-27.

A repeat victory, though, would not be had as the Cougars found redemption with this weekend’s 31-7 final score.

With roaring crowds packed into both sets of bleachers at the Paradise Valley High School football field, the Falcons took the field ready to receive the opening kickoff. The local boys marched to the 20-yard line before attempting a field goal on fourth down. The kick was no good, keeping the score board at zeroes with Show Low taking control.

A long pass from deep in their own territory would eat up most of the field for the Cougars who were eventually brought down at the 12. With just over four minutes left on the clock, the Cougars drove in for their first touchdown to lead 7-0.

The Falcons moved to mid-field on their next drive following a successful fourth down punt fake. The Cougars’ defense dug in, though, ending the quarter with the Falcons facing a fourth and short just past the 50-yard line.

The second quarter began with another fake punt from the Falcons, this one failing and putting the Cougars in possession of the ball. Another long reception would put Show Low in striking distance and a 37-yard field goal attempt would put the team up 10-0.

The local team once again faced a turnover at mid-field, which was eventually rectified by an intercepted shuffle pass that left the Falcons in possession of the ball with a long field to work with.

With one minute left on the clock, Bryce Scannell snuck by with a 12-yard run ending in scoring territory. Ty Blunt was on target for the kick, ending the half at 10-7 in favor of the Cougars.

While the first half was played close, mistakes and missed opportunities would snowball through the remainder of the game, allowing Show Low to pull even further away.

“We had some good drives in the first half,” said head coach Jim Fairfield.

“The second half is when we started missing tackles and dropping passes. Once you get down by 20 points, time starts to run out quickly. We threw the ball more than we wanted to in order to catch up and it didn’t work out.”

The Cougars’ opening drive for the second half ended with a TD, bringing the score to 17-7. The Falcons could once again only make it to mid-field before being brought to a halt where they punted it away.

Show Low answered back with another big drive capped off by another long bomb to make the game 24-7 with three minutes left in the third.

Another Falcon drive was unsuccessful, bringing up the fourth and final quarter with the Cougars deep in their own territory. The Cougars made a long, slow drive, eating up plenty of the clock as they marched down the field.

A 38-yard reception eventually brought Show Low into striking distance where they punched it in for a final touchdown, ending the game at 31-7.

According to Fairfield, the Falcons were their own worst enemy in the semi-final state game.

“We’ve always talked about not beating ourselves and, this week, that’s what we did,” Fairfield said.

“We had several penalties, dropped balls and missed tackles. The first time we played Show Low we didn’t do that.”

Fairfield said Show Low didn’t do a whole lot different than they expected, the Falcons simply didn’t execute effectively this outing.

“The kids played hard the whole time, though,” Fairfield said.

“Both teams played hard. They just played a little better than we did that night.”

As for the Falcons, Fairfield said he’s proud of the heart they showed in the face of mounting odds.

“They were warriors out there. They never gave up,” Fairfield said.

“The whole coaching staff is proud of them. They haven’t been beaten in region play in the past two years, so you know they must be doing something right.”

State play comes to a close this weekend as Show Low gets ready to take on Blue Ridge, who bested Florence 53-7 earlier that same night. The Cougars enter the match-up 10-3 on the season with Blue Ridge coming into the championship game undefeated. This final game of the 2009 season is set for 5 p.m. at the Northern Arizona University Walkup Skydome.