The Fountain Hills High School football team beat Arizona Lutheran Academy 40-28 last Friday, Sept. 16. The running back tandem of seniors Gavin Furi and Ryan Dyhrkopp combined for five of the Falcons’ six touchdowns in their first region win.

Arizona Lutheran Academy won the 2A state championship last season and started this season 3-0 as a 3A team. The Coyotes beat schools with their run game, averaging 340 rush yards through their first three games of this season, but the Falcons snapped the Coyotes’ 11-game winning streak and held them to just 255 rush yards.

“Arizona Lutheran is a good football program,” Falcons’ head coach Sean Moran said. “They’re a winning football program. They were 2A state champions last year and they know what they’re doing. That offensive scheme is very difficult to go against. It’s hard to know who has the ball, it’s almost like their hiding guys when they hand it off.”

The Falcons found themselves down 8-0 after the Coyotes’ first offensive series, but they responded on their next drive. Senior quarterback Spencer Nelson found Furi on a wheel route in the right corner of the endzone for a six-yard reception with seconds left in the first quarter to make it 8-6.

The Falcons’ defense forced a third and long situation on the next drive, and they then swarmed the quarterback and tackled him for a short gain to force a fourth down. The Coyotes kicked the only punt of the first half, a very short six-yard punt to the Fountain Hills 17 yard line, and the Falcons started with excellent field positioning.

The Falcons hurt themselves and fell behind the sticks for a fourth and long try. However, Nelson found Dyhrkopp running down the middle of the field for a 30-yard touchdown strike. Nelson completed his two-point conversion pass to sophomore Sam Barnard, and the Falcons lead 14-8 with nine minutes to go in the half.

The Falcons went for a lot of forth down attempts last Friday. The Falcons have not been able to rely on a kicker because of injuries, but Nelson and his weapons have gotten more comfortable in tough situations because of that. Nelson made several plays on fourth down, whether it was to his running backs or receivers like junior Gannon Young or senior Tory Johnson.

“We’re getting really comfortable on the big downs like you were saying, whether it’s fourth and long or third and long,” Nelson said. “We know we have to make plays and we’ve got play makers on our team.”

The Falcons’ defense forced another turnover on downs and Nelson got things going with his legs. After Nelson’s first carry, Furi took over and the Falcons made their way downfield. Furi capped off the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run, but the point after kick was no good, and the Falcons led 20-8 with five minutes left.

The Falcons got a lot of pressure against the Coyotes but not a lot of sacks. On their one touchdown pass near the end of the first half, the Coyotes quarterback fumbled the snap and immediately flushed out of the pocket to escape Barnard’s pressure on the edge. The quarterback found his receiver on the run for the touchdown, but the Falcons defense held strong. Junior Gabe Haynes got a sack on the two-point conversion attempt and kept the score at 20-14.

The Falcons started to impose their will in the second half. They forced turnover on downs on the first two Coyotes possessions, and the offense came along shortly after. Young took a slant from midfield to the endzone, Dyhrkopp caught another touchdown from about 10 yards out, and Furi ran in his third touchdown of the night after halftime.

“We just missed on some things in the first half that we knew were there,” Moran said. “There were good plays and bad plays like any game, but we’re starting to piece together more good plays as a unit, so I was happy with that. I thought our passing game was starting to come along a little bit, enough for us to feel good about the direction its going and we just have to keep building on it.”

The Coyotes threw the ball 10 times against Fountain Hills, a season high for Arizona Lutheran. Moran expects the Tempe Buffaloes will throw it more this upcoming Friday, and he wants to keep working on conditioning and the speed at which his players move.

“The most urgent focus for us is to continue to learn how to play with tempo,” Moran said. “We got in and out of plays pretty quickly, and we didn’t huddle more than I think one time. Beyond that, they’re communicating with the signs, and getting more and more comfortable with that while playing fast.”

The Falcons (2-3) are full of confidence and will celebrate homecoming this week. The Falcons host region opponent Tempe (0-5) at 7 p.m. on Friday. There will be a pregame parade on campus at 5:30 p.m. open to the public, and more festivities before kickoff.