The Fountain Hills High School varsity football team fell 55-24 to Arizona College Prep last Friday, Oct. 22. Junior quarterback Spencer Nelson threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns, but also four interceptions.

The deciding factor was turnovers. The Falcons had five, three of which were returned for touchdowns, and the Knights only gave up one fumble. All six of the turnovers happened in the second half.

“Going into the second half, they made adjustments we weren’t ready for,” Falcons head coach Jimmy Curtis said. “If we didn’t have some silly mishaps happen, then I think it would’ve been a really close game for the whole ride.”

Curtis said that at least two of the interceptions were caught off tipped passes.

The game was close in the first half, and the Falcons even led 10-7 at the beginning of the second quarter. The Knights started to turn up the pressure and scored two touchdowns in the second quarter, but Nelson connected with senior Savion Boone for a 20-yard touchdown pass with less than a minute left in the first half to make it 21-17 in favor of the Knights.

The Knights’ defense was tough on the Falcons. Four late hits on Nelson were flagged for roughing the passer, and the run defense was even tougher. The Falcons ran the ball 12 times for five total rush yards.

“Very physical and very fast,” Curtis said. “More fast than anything. They were getting around our blocks quicker than we could get to them. That’s really what hurt us and made us one-dimensional in the second half.”

The Falcons have done the same thing in most of their wins. Curtis said that one-dimensional teams are easier to predict, and it takes the freedom of play calling away from the other coach.

The Falcons were limited in play calling ahead of the game, as two of their biggest offensive pieces played with injury. Senior Calvin Lupien, who left last week’s game early, played limited minutes and primarily played defense. Nelson played through a bone bruise on his foot, and only played offense. Sophomore Canon Lipps returned from concussion protocol to play corner back in Nelson’s defensive absence.

Lupien has been the lead runner for the Falcons this season, but junior Ryan Dyhrkopp made a case to be the starter with Lupien on the bench. Dyhrkopp ran half of the Falcons’ running plays without much success, but he was the Falcons’ leading receiver. Dyhrkopp had seven catches for 113 yards and a touchdown.

“Ryan is a guy we really want to take ownership in that offensive role,” Curtis said. “He’s a defensive animal, and he runs just as hard as he tackles. Right now, he’s our go-to guy. He may have only had a couple rushing yards, but when we get the ball in his hands, he had three plays over 20 yards and one for a touchdown.”

Dyhrkopp was also the Falcons’ leading tackler and forced a fumble for the third time in two weeks. Senior Alex Rieck recovered the fumble for the Falcons.

Boone also had seven receptions for 83 yards and a score. The next leading receiver was junior Diesel Giger with 41 yards and a touchdown on four catches. Jentezen Behnke, a junior transfer student, has only played in the last few games for the Falcons, had two catches for 16 yards.

The Falcons did play good pass defense, holding the Knights to 74 pass yards, but they allowed two different 100-yard rushes. The Knights’ leading rusher was their quarterback, who finished with 137 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries.

The Falcons have one last road trip to Valley Christian to end the regular season this Friday, Oct. 29. The Trojans are 8-1 and hold second place in region 3A Metro East. Curtis expects four full quarters of play from his team going into the tough matchup. The Falcons know they can score, but they will have to keep ball security high on the priority list to have a chance to win.