Junior Sam Barnard and the rest of the Fountain Hills High School football team was ready to attack as soon as the game started, and the first play from scrimmage this season was a trick play that went over 40 yards to senior Gannon Young and led to a touchdown catch by senior Canon Lipps.

The Falcons schemed the flea flicker from the first day head coach Pete Schermerhorn started working with them on the field. Barnard threw three touchdowns in his first ever start at quarterback, and the Falcons beat Kofa 37-13 to start the season 1-0.

“We wanted to do something kind of special, and they were excited about it,” Schermerhorn said. “We started running it early on and working on it, and it was just a little bit of a gimmick play that hopefully is a hint to, you know, we want to be a fun team to watch. The kids enjoyed doing it and executed really, really well.”

The Falcons led 14-7 at halftime and held the Kings scoreless until the final play of the half. The local squad marched down the field to the redzone on all four of their first-half possessions, but they turned the ball over twice in scoring position. Barnard fumbled the ball on an outside run, and the Falcons turned the ball over on downs once.

“We moved the ball well,” Schermerhorn said. “We felt like we left some points on the board [and] weren’t able to capitalize on some of our opportunities that we had in the first half. We cleaned that up in the second half and then made some big plays as well.”

Lipps scored the first two touchdowns for the Falcons, and he blocked a punt out the back of the endzone for a safety in the second half. Senior Gabe Haynes had two rushing touchdowns and senior Jaxson Butcher hauled in a 35 yard touchdown.

Butcher is one of several wide receivers that stands to carve out a large role on the field. Young led the team with 711 yards last season, and Lipps and Haynes combined for 73 yards receiving last year.

Barnard is the only other returner with receiving totals, 263 last year, but he’s the signal caller throwing passes this year. Seniors Jayden Harned, Dylan Romans and Julian Sepulveda are also in a position to turn some heads on offense this year.

Barnard is building chemistry with his new receiving core, and his offensive line gave him all the time he needed in the season opener. Schermerhorn complimented seniors Leland Pena and Nate Barnard for their work leading the line, and he also said sophomore Connor Davies did well in the trenches.

“The offense was really flowing,” Sam Barnard said. “My protection, I thought I would be a lot more under pressure, but the [offensive] line honestly really stepped up in the passing game and gave me the space I needed.”

The Falcons host Bourgade Catholic (0-1) on Friday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m. The Falcons faced Bourgade Catholic in week eight last year and reached a season high 310 rushing yards in a 44-14 win. The Golden Eagles are currently coming off a 75-6 loss against Mohave on Friday, Aug. 18.

“We just want to be more consistent and continue to improve on what we’re doing,” Schermerhorn said. “Getting to our assignments, finishing blocks and those kinds of things, but I thought the growth we made offensively from the scrimmage to week one was really good. The challenge is to make that same kind of growth going into week two.”