A strong rose can blossom even in strong wind.
Foothills Falcon runningback Landon Rose exploded up the gut and broke free for a 75-yard touchdown romp into vicious winds with less than two minutes remaining in their thrilling 30-25 come-back victory over the Centennial Coyotes Friday at Falcons Field.
“There was a huge hole — the left side of the offensive line did great — and there was a cutback lane and soon as I made the cut, it opened up,” said Rose, who finished with 154 yards on 16 carries. “We were a little down and nervous that final drive we just said we have to give it all we got.”
Rose was nearly caught at the three-yard line, but rolled into the end zone with a Coyote on his back for the five-point lead.
However, there were a few more anxious moments when he looked back and saw a orange hankie on the field.
“I scored the touchdown and I looked back and there was that flag,” Rose said. “I thought ‘oh, no.’”
Turns out it was an illegal substitution on the play against the Coyotes.
Centennial showed more gumption chasing a bird than that coyote of cartoon fame.
The Coyotes were able to move the ball within the Foothills 30-yard line with 52 seconds left when Falcons DB Brendan Lowry clinched the game when he picked off a pass at about the 10-yard line from Centennial’s Pierce Rosenfield that got hung up in the wind.
“We knew they had to score a TD so they had to use every part of the field,” said Lowry, who led the team with six solo tackles. “So we just sat back in a deep zone. Fortunately, Ben Tighe was right there to make the tackle if I missed it.”
The Falcons opened the scoring when quarterback Trey Kellogg hit Lowry in the flats for a six-yard touchdown early in the first quarter for the 7-0 lead. However, nearly the rest of the half Foothills would implode like an Acme product.
Centennial would tie the game when runningback Shea Priest burst outside for a 50-yard romp with a minute left in the first quarter.
They would take a 14-7 lead when Cordell Hastings got behind a fallen Falcon to haul in a 60-yard catch-and-run pass from Rosenfield.
Foothills was unable to move the ball on the ensuing drive and disaster struck when the Coyotes broke through the Falcons line virtually untouched to block a Daylon Creason punt on the 15-yard.
The pigskin rolled into the end zone and was jumped on by the Coyotes Kyle Wolf to put the pups up by 14.
Creason didn’t get mad, he got even.
The ball-hawking DB was able to strip a Coyote running back of the ball and Lowry pounced it on at the Centennial goal line. Rose then pummeled his way into the end zone to cut the lead to 21-14.
Creason would also snuff out a Coyotes’ drive with a pick before the half.
Mother Nature threw a David Price like curveball at the game in the second half. The teams came out of the locker-room to face mind-blowing winds from the east and a driving rain.
The Falcons added a single point with the wind in the third quarter and then the defence came up big.
With Rosenfield in the shotgun at the Foothills seven-yard line the snap sailed over his head. Falcon linebacker Keaton Goosen jumped on the ball in the end zone to even the score. Rose then went in for the two-point conversion to give Foothills a precarious three-point lead as Centennial had the wind at their back for the final 12 minutes.
The Coyotes were able to trim the deficit to 24-22 early in the fourth quarter. They took a one-point lead when Priest hit a 27-yard field goal to make it 25-24 with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
Rose then exploded for his 75-yard romp on Foothills’ next drive to give the Falcons the victory.
It was the second consecutive week the Falcons have knocked off a ranked Tier 1 school. The Coyotes went into the game ranked no. 8 in the province. The victory improved Foothills to 4-1 on the season. They are no. 3 in the Tier II rankings.
It will be a meeting of pals and family at Falcons field on Thursday for Foothills.
The Falcons play the Highwood Mustangs at 5 p.m. in Okotoks.
Former Falcons assistant coach Bryan Brandford and Olson’s son, Kiefer, are the head coach and assistant, respectively, at the High River School.
