The Fountain Hills High School football team had a tough task last Friday, Aug. 24, against 3A region opponent American Leadership Academy – Gilbert North. The Falcons fell 42-7 to the undefeated Eagles on homecoming night.

The Eagles started with the ball and only passed down the field. There was some hope for the Falcons after a penalty nullified a touchdown pass and pushed the Eagles back to third and long. The Falcon defensive pressure flushed the Eagles’ quarterback out of the pocket, but then he threw another touchdown pass.

The Falcons punted after a short series and the Eagles went on the offensive again. Once again, the Falcons’ pass rush got past the offensive line, but they could not catch the speedy quarterback on a scramble that set up first and goal.

“I think they knew they would have more success passing,” Falcons head coach Jimmy Curtis said. “Not because we don’t have great guys in the passing game, but our front six do a great job and our line backers are better at the run than the pass.”

The Eagles never tested their run game on the Falcon defensive front. Even when Gilbert North had a first and goal on the one-yard line, the Eagles elected to pass the ball on a usual run situation.

After going up 14-0, the Eagles kicked an onside kick and recovered it deep in Falcon territory. One play later, the Eagles lead 21-0 halfway through the first quarter.

The Falcons responded with their first first down and more on the next drive.

After several plays of positive yardage, the Falcons’ play was blown up on third down. Quarterback Spencer Nelson was lucky to get the ball out before he was sacked. After the punt, Gilbert put itself in position and then scored on a 30-yard pass play. The Eagles led 28-0 at the end of the first quarter.

The two teams each had multiple turnovers in the second quarter. Nelson threw an interception first but made up for it on the next drive. Curtis put Nelson in when the Eagles were knocking on the goal line, and Nelson out-played his man to intercept a touchdown pass.

“Spencer’s taken on so much that I’ve asked him in the new offense,” Curtis said. “Tonight, he just didn’t want to come out, and in man coverage, Spencer’s an athlete.”

After getting the pick, Nelson was fired up and the Falcons were playing with intent to score. They marched down the field and Nelson connected with Savion Boone for big yardage near the endzone. Unfortunately, Nelson would throw another interception in the endzone a few plays later.

The Eagles’ heavy pass attack took over and they pushed down the field only to be intercepted again. This time, Boone came up with the turnover on the one-yard line. Boone also ran a punt fake on the next series and picked up eight yards on fourth and short.

Despite the Falcons chewing clock and keeping the Eagles off offense, they would score once more in the half. The Eagles went up tempo, and they went up 35-0 with 50 seconds left in the half.

“We’ve been through a lot of adversity,” senior Calvin Lupien said. “We lost a lot of starting players we really couldn’t afford to lose at such a small school, but we’ve kept our heads up and we’ve kept pushing forward. The main thing is we just don’t stop fighting. That’s what’s great about this team, we just never give up.”

Lupien was the lone Falcon to score a touchdown on a short run with 20 seconds left in the game. The senior credited his offensive line for continuing to battle at the line of scrimmage. Curtis had similar praise since the offensive line had two freshmen starting, Aidan Cronican and Vincent Allison-Dice.

Lupien’s touchdown was set up a few plays earlier by another freshman. On third down, Nelson backed up to avoid a sack and then connected with Sam Barnard while running to his right. Barnard’s catch was for a first down, and he has more playing time at receiver now that his older brother, Jake, is injured indefinitely.

“I think we can turn the season around,” Lupien said. “We needed a kicker, we got one. A lot of our injured players are starting to come back, too.”

Everyone is being asked to do more with fewer players to do the job. The Falcons did lose junior Casey Osborn early in the game, but his injury did not seem to be serious. The Falcons also had Nicholas Scini play kicker for the first time since middle school. Scini made his extra point attempt and came up with a touchdown-stopping tackle on the ensuing kickoff.

The Falcons have a road trip to Apache Junction this week. Curtis has some game planning to do ahead of the 4A matchup with the 3-1 Prospectors this Friday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m.