Football team at a crossroads after first three games

The season-opening 22-7 victory inspired optimism for the Falcon football team, but that optimism has been challenged after two straight lopsided defeats. The Falcons stand at 1-2 record going into next Friday’s key league road opener against the Palo Alto Vikings.

Starting the year with a big 22-7 victory in the opener at Hillsdale High School on Sept. 4, the Falcons fell short in the following week’s matchup at home against Silver Creek, losing 23-6, and also lost the following game to Piedmont High School on Sept. 18 34-14.

Even bigger than the loss to Piedmont perhaps was a collarbone injury to a key player, senior wide receiver Joseph Eschen, during the Silver Creek game. As a starter, he had made big plays for the Falcons in the first two games. It is unclear if he will return later this season.

The Falcons led the Pirates at the the end of the first half 7-6.

“We came out really strong in the first half but they stomped on us in the second half,” senior captain Vinny Faylor said. “We just weren’t able to finish off our drives [in the second half].”

In the third quarter, the Falcon defense crumpled under the pressure of the Piedmont offense. The Falcons allowed 15 points in the quarter, but were able to respond by scoring an extra touchdown, bringing the deficit to 7 points.

The Falcons, however, were unable to make a comeback in the final quarter. They gave up 13 points and went scoreless.

The team also suffered a big loss on Sept 11. to Silver Creek.

Coach Tim Lugo felt that he didn’t prepare the team enough to play on the right level for the first home game against Silver Creek, but he wanted the players to learn from the defeat.

“We talked a lot the week after the game of owning your mistakes, fixing the mistakes, and moving on from those mistakes and I think we’ve done a great job of doing that process,” Lugo said.

Even though they now have losing record, the Falcons say they know they can play at a high level, which was showcased by the first game of the season against Hillsdale.

With junior outside linebacker Aaron Vogel being a dominant force on defense with 4.5 sacks, wide receiver Kian Ghelichkhani having 10 catches for 100 yards and running back Alex Hawks rushing for 115 yards, the team was able to control both sides of the ball and secure the win.

“Our defense played fantastic in that game and that was the key,” said Lugo. “We did just enough on offense to get the win but had solid efforts from the guys.”

They know that despite the few hiccups at the beginning of the season that they have a solid core of players

“We’ll get better as the season moves on as long as we stay healthy and I’m still confident that we will go back to CCS this year,” Lugo said.

Last year the team beat Palo Alto to clinch a CCS berth. It was one of the few times in recent years when they were able to beat the Vikings.

This year the team hopes that they will be able to take the momentum from last year’s game and be able to translate it into a win in an away game.

With a record of 1-2, the Vikings have had a difficult schedule, losing to powerhouse teams Archbishop Mitty and San Benito High School. Despite these two losses, Palo Alto is usually a strong team, and the Falcons will need to put on a big show in defense with the Vikings offense being led by senior wide receiver Eli Givens, who has 339 receiving yards on 13 receptions, and sophomore running back Paul Jackson III, who has 238 yards off 27 carries.

“It will be a difficult game to win for sure as they are a great team,” said Lugo. “[As of Sept. 21] we don’t have any film to use, so I have no idea what to expect, and as soon as the bye week starts I know that the boys will be practicing to get the win.”