The Falcon football squad hit the road to Payson last Friday, Sept. 1, and returned home with a big 31-13 win over the Longhorns, moving to 1-1 on the season.

Following the season opener against Northwest Christian, head coach Jason Henslin said the Falcon defense was looking rock solid this season while the offensive side of the ball needed to rise to that same level. It looks like the local boys took that message to heart, with the Falcons managing to hold a big Payson squad to just 13 points while going on to score four touchdowns of their own.

Quarterback Derek Weinreich was 10 for 20 in the air this outing for a total of 191 passing yards. Garrett Renner caught three of those for 60 yards, with Tom Ferington snagging one for 39 and Ian Machiewicz pulling down two for 30.

Cole Lupien was solid in the air and on the ground, landing two receptions for 36 yards and carrying 11 for an additional 17. Weinreich himself toted two for 27 additional yards.

Over to defense and several Falcons had big nights against the Longhorns. Andrew Hoyt got things rolling with an impressive seven tackles and seven assists. Brett Gratz offered up eight tackles of his own and a pair of assists, while John Beamish brought down five solo and had a hand in another five.

The Falcons proved to be dangerous in many ways this outing, landing five sacks on the night and forcing a pair of fumbles while Tom Fuller nabbed an interception for good measure.

Lighting up the scoreboard this outing were Mackiewicz and Ferrington with a touchdown apiece, with Dakota Hanby earning two touchdowns of his own.

Collin Robbins had a solid foot in Payson, too, earning seven points from four PATs and an additional field goal.

The Falcons hope to ride this momentum into their first home game of the season, finally playing in front of a local crowd this Friday, Sept. 8, in an 8 p.m. outing versus the team from American Leadership Academy.