The Fountain Hills High School football team fell 33-12 at Scottsdale Christian Academy last Friday, Sept. 2. The Falcons kept the game close in the first half but struggled with special teams all night and couldn’t overcome their self-inflicted wounds to win.

The Falcons’ offense started slow and had two negative plays on the first possession. Senior Jentezen Behnke had his punt blocked and the Eagles recovered inside the redzone. The Falcons’ defense was able to stop the Eagles, and then they blocked Scottsdale’s field goal attempt to keep it 0-0.

“I thought defensively we weren’t as dominate as we were in the first two games, but they were still keeping us in the football game,” head coach Sean Moran said. “I think we ended up having them on the field for 70 plays. That’s really tough in high school, for anyone to be out there 70 plays.”

The Falcons’ defense made two fourth down stops in the first half. The first stop came on fourth and 15 on the 15 yard line, where senior Tory Johnson prevented a touchdown pass in the right corner of the endzone. The Falcons’ first play after the stop was an intercepted pass, and Scottsdale Christian went up 6-0 shortly after with 6:57 left to play in the half. The Eagles would also return an interception for a touchdown in the second half.

The Falcons defense had another fourth down stop with less than two minutes left. The Falcons got the ball back, but the offense was not getting much done. A pass interference call on the Eagles put them around midfield with a minute to play, but the Falcons couldn’t capitalize and went into the locker room down 6-0.

The Falcons connected on a few big throws in the second half that led to touchdown catches by senior Diesel Giger and junior Gannon Young, but the offense never settled, according to Moran. The Falcons were missing starting left tackle junior Zack Rieck and senior running back Gavin Furi before the game, and sophomore running back Jack Boersma got banged up slightly during the game.

“We never sustained a run game on Friday night,” Moran said. “I’m not real happy about that, and really we’re not very consistent throwing the ball besides a couple big strikes.”

The Falcons also lost their second punter in three weeks with Behnke going out late in the second quarter. The Falcons had special team woes with his early blocked punt and a botched punt late in the second that Behnke scrambled 20 yards and nearly got a first down on. Senior Eddie Galvan took over kicking duties after Behnke was hurt on defense, and the Falcons allowed two back-to-back kickoff returns for touchdowns in the third quarter.

“We scored, and they returned a touchdown on a kickoff because we were going down,” Moran said. “Guys were dropping, and we were getting pretty low on the depth chart even on special teams. They returned a kick, and we go back out there and score again on offense, and then they had another kickoff return for a touchdown.”

Moran trusts that his special team coordinator Dan Butler will get things under control moving forward. Moran spoke highly of Butler’s calm demeanor, and how that helped the Falcons reel back in after two special teams mistakes in a row. Looking forward, the Falcons will try to shore up special teams and make some changes on offense.

“We’ve got to get some things going on offense,” Moran said. “There has to be a sense of urgency, and that’s kind of going to be the message this week.”

Moran will lean on his 11 years’ worth of experience as an offensive coordinator and said that he’ll move some people around and try to fit them in like a puzzle piece. He said the Falcons have figured out a system for their defense and will stay the course, but they need to figure out what players work best on offense.

Moran hired one of his former players last week as the new offensive line coach. Isaiah Mercado only had two practices with the team before Scottsdale Christian, but Moran thinks he’ll be a big help for his program moving forward. Mercado played lineman for Moran at Shadow Ridge high school and played college ball at Sioux Falls and Northern Michigan.

“He’ll bring that mindset that he has, and he’ll bring that expertise he learned in college as well as with us and things that we’ve done at Shadow Ridge,” Moran said. “I’m very much expecting us to be a little more organized on the offensive line with him and I’m very excited about that.”

The Falcons will be tested at home this Friday, Sept. 9, by 4A Marcos de Niza (1-0). The Padres will be the last non-section game the Falcons play for four weeks, and Moran said they are a legitimate and tough 4A team. The Falcon players have been talking all weekend in a group chat, and according to Moran, the Falcons are ready to learn from their mistakes and have the right attitude to want to be a good football team.

“The season’s a marathon, not a sprint,” Moran said. “There’s going to be ups and downs. Really, we want to play our best ball going into section play, and then play our best ball hopefully going into playoffs.”