The Fountain Hills High School football team (3-3) cruised to a 55-22 win over region opponent Tempe on homecoming night last Friday, Sept. 23. Senior quarterback Spencer Nelson threw four touchdowns and 203 yards, and he also had two rushing touchdowns and 61 rush yards on seven carries.

The Falcons were hyped all week for the game, and the team walked in the homecoming parade and saw all the community members that came to see them play. The Falcons were excited and ready for their game to start, but they had to wait out a storm first.

“I think it was better than what we imagined,” senior Casey Osborne said. “We came in with the intention to win, and I think the lightning delay only made us more fired up.”

The Falcons took to the field to stretch at 7:15, and kickoff was 30 minutes behind schedule at 7:30. The Falcons didn’t waste time on offense, and after a few quick throws to seniors Diesel Giger and Gavin Furi, the Falcons were in striking distance.

Nelson ran in the first touchdown from four yards out three minutes into the game, and the defense took over. On the first play, Osborne came crashing down for a tackle for loss on the running back. Two plays later on third and long, senior Jaron Rosario forced a fumble and junior Gabe Haynes recovered for the Falcons.

“We watched a lot of film on Saturday,” Osborne said. “We pretty much had almost all their offensive plays down. We knew exactly what they were doing most the time. Our game plan was to shut down six and three, and I think we did a good job with them.”

The Falcons had good field position but a block in the back penalty took away a nice screen play by sophomore Sam Barnard on third down and forced a long fourth down. Junior Jaxson Butcher missed the first point after kick after Nelson’s touchdown, and the Falcons elected to go for the fourth down. Nelson threw his first interception of the night, but Tempe was spotted on the one-yard line and the Falcons defense forced a safety on first down to go up 8-0 with 2:28 left in the first quarter.

Nelson threw another interception, but the Falcons defense responded with another sack from junior Cannon Lipps on first down. The Buffaloes scored thanks to their short field, but senior Eddie Galvan got some momentum back for the Falcons with a sack on the two-point conversion attempt and a nice kickoff return afterwards to midfield.

“I mean, things happen, and you got to have a short term memory,” Galvan said. “When things go bad, you have to get right back up and just go at it on the next play.”

Furi ran the ball four times from midfield and got the Falcons to the one yard line. Furi rushed for 111 yards on 15 carries, but Nelson snuck in for a one-yard touchdown run to put the Falcons up 14-6 with 10:29 left in the first half. Butcher made the point after attempt to make it 15-6, and Butcher finished the night making five of his eight attempts.

The Falcons scored four more times before halftime, and only allowed one score from Tempe. Nelson connected with Giger for a seven yard touchdown reception and threw two touchdowns to junior Gannon Young. Young scored three touchdowns on the night and caught three passes for 133 yards. Young’s first catch went for 72 yards on a third and long, and he scored another touchdown from 30 yards out with less than a minute left in the half. Senior Tory Johnson returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown the first play after Young’s 72 yard touchdown.

“Most the time we were running dual, we were reading mesh, and we let them cross,” Johnson said. “I didn’t think he had a guy. He was kind of throwing to a spot since they were crossing, so I really just met him in the middle, and again, we watched film, and we practiced that.”

The Falcons led 41-14 at halftime and survived two more turnovers in the second half to win. Nelson threw three interceptions and lost one fumble, but head coach Sean Moran isn’t worried about that. He says that’s the difference between him as an offensive minded coach and a defensive minded coach.

“We want to move the ball, that’s how you got to do it,” Moran said. “You have to have a little Brett Favre in you, you got to let it go and you can’t be fearful. From that quarterback position, unless someone is screaming wide open like a couple of Gannon’s, nobody ever really looks clean when you throw it.”

The Falcons came up even in the turnover column when the night was done. Haynes recovered an early fumble, the safety put the ball back in Nelson’s hands, and Johnson scored his pick six in the first half. Barnard had a pass break up in the right corner of the endzone in the third quarter, and on the next play, Barnard caught an interception in the left corner of the endzone.

The Falcons have been playing with a quicker tempo on offense and Moran said most of the time on Friday, they were waiting on referees to get set on the field. Moran was happy with the run game, as the Falcons accumulated 220 yards on 24 carries for an average of 9.2 per carry. Outside of Nelson and Furi, Lipps carried the ball twice for 48 yards, including a 35 yard touchdown run.

Moran was pleased with the big splash plays on offense, as five Falcons made at least one offensive play for 20 or more yards. He knows there is work to be done on short and intermediate plays, but the Falcons will practice more and study film in preparation for region opponent Phoenix Christian (0-6) this week.

The Falcons will travel to face the Cougars this Friday at 7 p.m. According to Moran, Phoenix Christian has good athletes, and their past scores don’t tell how dangerous they can be. The Falcons will play fast to try to make Phoenix Christian uncomfortable, and not give up anything easy to the Cougars as the Falcons try to go 3-0 in region play.

“Obviously were not exactly where we want to be,” Moran said. “We’re happy with the progress we’re making, and we just want to keep getting better. That’s the one thing I’m excited about these guys, they’re consistently eager to learn.”