A week after showing off their passing prowess, the Foothills Falcons demonstrated they can steamroll opponents on the ground as well.
The Falcons cruised to a 61-0 victory over the Highwood Mustangs, Sept. 14 in High River, in a convincing victory featuring every healthy player on Foothills ' roster. It was the first game of the Big Rock High School Football Conference season for both teams.
Despite a lopsided 35-0 score at halftime, the Falcons ' coaches kept the players focused on the process in the second half, said running back Josh Koshman.
“ We kept playing a hard game, we put in our back-ups and they kept their focus and showed us what they ' ve got,” Koshman said. “ We ' ve got even more weapons than we thought.”
Koshman opened the scoring with a short touchdown run, followed by a 34-yard toss from quarterback Taylor Armsworthy to Garrett Young. Koshman would find paydirt again on a 21-yard scamper before Armsworthy broke free for a 60-yard touchdown run of his own. Hunter Karl spelled Armsworthy behind centre in the second quarter and found speedy receiver Rory Forrester for a goal line toss, giving the Falcons the 35-point lead going into half.
Foothills head coach Greg McLeod said it was a less than convincing two quarters of play from his team.
“ We came out very shaky, we were making lazy mistakes in the first half, holding and things like that we weren ' t doing in the prior two games,” McLeod said. “ And I was pretty happy with the way the guys responded after half time.”
McLeod used the opportunity to rest his starters and give his young players game experience. Koshman was moved from tailback to signal caller, his first time ever playing the position.
“ We just tossed (Koshman) in there to give Hunter a break and to try and get Taylor off the field as much as we could,” McLeod said of Koshman. “ He was our player of the game and that was another thing coming from the game, we needed to establish a run game.
“ Proving to ourselves that we could run the ball is going to be huge moving forward.”
Koshman, coming off a season away from the gridiron due to a shoulder injury, said it was crucial for him to have a strong game at this early juncture of the season.
“ I missed last season so I had to catch my stride again,” said Koshman, who added a touchdown run at quarterback in the late stages of the game. “ It was good that the coaches let me do that.”
Koshman was more than happy to take his first snaps since Falcons ' spring camp.
“ Coach (Jayson) Krause made the call to put me in at quarterback and I was pretty low on the depth chart so I didn ' t expect it,” Koshman said. “ We just ran simple plays, I had a few quarterback runs and gave it to the backs and let them do their thing.”
Reece Girardin and Brenden Hansen took over the Falcons ' running duties in the second half and Foothills didn ' t miss a beat in the ground game.
“ Both of them had great, great games,” Koshman said. “ It was Reece ' s mom ' s birthday and he got a touchdown for her, it was a great thing to do.”
Defensively, the Falcons ' front seven contained the Mustangs and forced Highwood quarterback Aaron McCarty out of the pocket with interior pressure all game.
“ Cody Thompson had another really good game and Ben Wattie as well,” McLeod said. “ We ' re really happy with our defensive tackles for the first time this season. Ben Myers and a young guy named Tarrin Verville, who has only played a week of football, but is a fairly big, powerful kid.”
The blowout victory propelled Foothills into a first-place tie in the Big Rock Conference with the Rundle College Cougars at 1-0. The Falcons also earned the number two ranking among Tier II Football Alberta schools.
The Falcons, who have a 3-0 record overall, hit the road north to Edmonton for a date with the Jasper Place Rebels on Sept. 21. Then Foothills and the Holy Trinity Academy Knights meet in the battle of Okotoks on Sept. 28 at the Knights ' field.
