Tough to take on some mighty warriors with injured wings.
The Foothills Falcons were shutout 21-0 by the Henry Wise Wood Warriors — the no. 2 ranked Division I football team in Alberta — Friday at Falcons Field.
“Wise Wood’s offensive line is huge and they just wore us down in the second half,” Falcons coach Darren Olson said. “[Our] defence played well, but we just don’t have the depth especially when we have a few key injuries. That hurt us tonight.”
The Falcons went into the game already missing all-purpose runningback Payton Burbank and then the Warriors kept the Foothills trainers busy.
Starting QB Tyson Pitcher went down in the first quarter and second-year defensive/offensive lineman Riley Gough was lost late in the first half.
Linebacker Aden Ellis also had to leave the game.
Falcons backup QB Keaton Neish was effective in a 32-7 victory over the Centennial Coyotes the week before, but the Warriors were a whole different dog.
Neish was running for his life at times, not yards this game, as the Warriors defence pinned their ears back and took advantage of a young Falcons offensive line.
“In the second half, they blitzed the heck out of us,” Olson said.
The blitz came from one of the best teams in the province.
“We like our defence because we have a lot of speed,” said Wise Wood head coach Ben Pilley. “We wanted to focus on Foothills #10 (runningback Payton Price). He was hurting us a lot in the first half.”
Price carried the load for Foothills amassing 141 yards on the ground — the bulk of the Falcons 179 yards of offence.
While the Falcons offence struggled, the defence was worthy of the Warriors.
The two teams were deadlocked at 0-0 at the half.
“Their (Foothills) defence played quite well,” Pilley said. “In the second half we were able to make a couple of adjustments, make some blocks and go from there.”
The Warriors would take the lead for good when quarterback Jake Gillespie got outside for a 57-yard run early in the second half.
They would double their lead when Gillespie proved he can catch as well as run.
He made a spectacular catch midway through the fourth quarter, going up high to just out-reach the Falcons’ defender who was in good position to make the play.
Wise Wood closed out the scoring when runningback Tyler Santos scored from one-yard out. Santos had set up the TD when he broke free for a 67-yard run.
Falcons co-captain DB Seth Nelson said the defence got worn down a bit as the night went on.
“The first half, it was zero-zero and we were playing really good,” Nelson said. “They had some big plays in the second. I don’t want to say it demoralized us, but they got some big yards… but it is reassuring that we could at least hold it for one half and play good football with one of the best teams in Alberta.”
There were some positives.
The Falcons had four sacks coming from veterans Aden Ellis and Nelson on the blitz. Grade 10 players James Bertram and Carson Remus also got to the Wise Wood QB.
Linebacker Jake Tighe continued to impress in his second-year of high school ball with aggressive play and an interception.
“I felt we put out a good effort, but that wasn’t our best we always have more,” Tighe said. “I think at the end we got more tired in our heads rather than our bodies.”
Olson said he was proud of his banged-up team’s effort.
“I told the guys that we are proud of what they did,” Olson said. “Wise Wood is a big football program and we were there blow-by-blow for the majority of the game.”
The loss dropped the Falcons to 1-2 but they remained perched in the provincial Tier II rankings.
They open their Big Rock Conference play this Friday when they travel to Calgary to take on the Rundle Cobras.
