The Fountain Hills High School football team improved to 2-0 with a 28-0 win over Bourgade Catholic on Friday, Aug. 25. Junior Sam Barnard tossed three touchdowns to lead the Falcons to victory, and senior Gannon Young caught two of them.

The Falcons held a ribbon-cutting ceremony before the game to thank individuals and groups for supporting the new athletic field. They have practiced on the field since Monday, Aug. 14, and the players feel comfortable and confident on the new turf.

“The turf is amazing,” senior Isiah Challman said. “Last year, if you fell, guaranteed you’d get scrapped up. You might get an infection; you don’t know what you’re going home with from that turf. This turf is so nice. It’s bouncier, a lot softer and you can run quicker.”

Young hauled in two spectacular grabs for over 20 yards each where he out-jumped his defender and caught the ball in the air above their head. His first touchdown from five yards out came at the end of a two-minute drive and put the Falcons up 14-0 with 42 seconds left before halftime. Young beat his defender downfield for a 30-yard touchdown later in the fourth quarter.

Young is Barnard’s most trusted receiver, but head coach Peter Schermerhorn said the Falcons are comfortable with several other receivers. Senior Jaxson Butcher caught his first career touchdown in the season opener, and senior Isiah Challman caught his first career touchdown from 21 yards out against Bourgade Catholic. Senior Gabe Haynes also made big plays in the win against Bourgade Catholic.

The Falcons forced three and outs early and often defensively, but they had their own slow start offensively. After an early interception, the Falcons faced a third and long situation on their second drive.

Haynes caught the check down pass from Barnard and set the tone for the rest of the night by breaking several tackles and muscling his way forward eight yards to a first down.

The Falcons fed off Haynes’ momentum and marched down to the red zone. Not wanting to give up after going so far, the Falcons went for it on fourth and goal, and senior Canon Lipps followed Haynes’ block to score a two yard touchdown run and go up 7-0.

“I think that’s got a lot to do with the gym,” Haynes said. “I think kids look up to people that can bench a lot and squat a lot, and I think the younger guys look up to that. They need a dog out there that can move some weight and also do it on the field.”

Haynes said he benches 295 lbs., squats 385 lbs. and deadlifts 405 lbs. Like several Falcons, Haynes rarely gets a break on the field, but fellow senior Pablito Camacho can fill in for Haynes at fullback and is another force on the defensive line. Camacho is one of several first time football players on the team, but he’s earned the respect of his teammates already.

Another first-time football player, senior Jayden Harned, caught the first defensive interception of the season against Bourgade Catholic.

Bourgade nearly returned a kickoff for a touchdown after Young’s first touchdown, but Butcher tackled the returner just past midfield. The Falcons’ defense caused havoc and penetrated the opponent’s offensive line like their coaches wanted, but they let some sacks and interceptions slip through their fingers. Still, they held on for the shutout. The Falcons’ defense will be tested in the next two weeks against 2A Camp Verde (1-1) and 4A Marcos de Niza (0-1). Camp Verde has one of the better quarterbacks in 2A and Marcos de Niza was ranked No. 3 in 4A last year.

“We want to play to a certain standard of excellence and to continue to try to push towards that is the challenge going forward,” Schermerhorn said. “I thought there were lots of things, after watching film, that we can really dial in and focus on improving. It’s a great opportunity when you are successful to go ahead and still identify areas for improvement. The attitudes are usually pretty good and everyone’s feeling good, but yet there’s still a lot of growth that can be made.”

The Falcons play at Camp Verde on Thursday, Aug. 31, at 7 p.m. The game was moved to Thursday due to an officiating shortage. The Falcons host Marcos de Niza in their next home game on Friday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m.