Our Glendale Falcons traveled north to take on the Raymore-Peculiar Panthers in a first round state playoff match-up on Friday night, and came up short, ending the season by losing 14-28.
The night was windy and cold, with temperatures down into the 30’s by game time. There was no precipitation, only a strong north wind that kept everyone frozen - until the 4th quarter that is. Then the drizzle came, then then the sleet came, then the snow came! But our Falcons kept things heated up on the field, and our cheering fans had nearly filled the visitor side (regardless of the bad weather - thanks Falcon fans)!
Ray-Pec got the ball first, after the Falcons won the coin toss, and deferred to the second half. The defense looked great, holding the Panthers to what appeared to be 3-and-out. But a fake punt took us by surprise, and a pass was completed giving the Panthers a first-and-ten in Falcon territory. The offense proceeded to complete the drive, capped by a 6-yard touchdown run by Mizzou-signee Derrick Washington. But it was going to be a long night for Washington on offense, as the Falcon defense held the star running back to only 88 yards on 31 carries. This turned out to basically be the only touchdown our defense would surrender all night - so how did we lose 14-28? Read on!
The Falcons got the ball back, and started to move the ball on the Panther defense. But after a couple of first downs, the drive stalled, and we had to punt. Enter Derrick Washington on special teams, where he did have a big night - the speedster caught the punt and ran it back to our 3 yard line. He then scored another touchdown on the next play from scrimmage (thus, it is hard to really count that touchdown as having been given up by the defense), and the Falcons found themselves down 0-14 at the end of the first quarter. Time to panic? No way!!!
In the second quarter, our Falcons would rip off two offensive touchdowns, with some great offensive line play to set up the running attack (virtually no passes were thrown in the first half), while the defense was stifling the Panther offense, including Derrick Washington. With around 7 minutes to play in the half, our Falcons had tied the game at 14-14. On the kickoff after the 2nd touchdown, enter Derrick Washington - again. We tried to squib kick the ball, and deny any chance of running the ball back, but Washington still managed to scoop up the ball, and run it 70 yards for another special teams touchdown. The extra point was missed, and the Panthers now led 14-20.
On our ensuing kickoff return, a holding penalty on us (which would prove to be the broken record of the night - “penalty on Glendale”, “no penalty on Ray-Pec” - enough said there!!!) pushed a decent return back inside the 10 yard line. We were unable to move forward much, and ended up having to punt into that vicious wind. It went only 6 yards, and the Panthers took over at our 16 yard line. But the defense met the challenge, and held Ray-Pec to only a field goal. The half ended with us down 14-23.
Both defenses got tough in the second half, and there were not many drives to speak of. Ray-Pec did end up with a very short field on one series in the 3rd quarter, but once again the defense stepped up holding them to only a field goal. Then into the 4th quarter, the score still found us down 14-26. After another defensive stop, we got the ball back with around 5 minutes left in the game. The offense started moving the chains, and converted on 4th down twice to get into Panther territory. Ian Starnes dropped back to pass, with now only around 3 minutes left in the game. He fired the ball in Jordan Greaves’ direction, but the pass was picked off (and I can’t help but point out that the pick was only after the Ray-Pec defender had pushed off on Jordan - but as was the pattern of the evening, no call on Ray-Pec!!!). A couple of plays later, after the Ray-Pec running game was once again stuffed, the Panther QB lofted a pass toward the end zone that was picked off at the 5 yard line by Lance Logan (the 3rd pick of the Panthers’ QB that night - the first two both by Bryant Young). The Falcons are given one more breath of life with around 2 minutes left in the half, but a 95 yard field to conquer.
However, on the first play from scrimmage, Starnes dropped back to pass and was sacked in the end zone for a safety, making the score 14-28. On our free kick, we tried to onside kick the ball, but Ray-Pec recovered, and ran out the clock.
Of course we had high hopes that our Falcons would extend their already-extended season after winning District 5 (which included a 48-7 drubbing of Kickapoo - have we mentioned that?!), but the season has come to an end. We are all really proud of Coach Hurst and his coaching staff, and all the players from Freshman to Senior. The first half of the season was rough, with 4 of 5 losses of 8 points or less, and a whole host of injuries that kept several starters off the field. But we weathered the storm, and went on a roll at the right time of the season, to finish strong, including our 3 district wins. It was the first district title in 3 years, and our game against Ray-Pec (2-time defending Class 5 state champions) was a real nail-biter, on their home turf, in some of the worst weather conditions you could ask for. Our Falcon players and coaches have a lot to be proud of, and so do we fans! And for any of you naysayers who might be reading this (yeah, you folks who said Ray-Pec would smash us, win by 6 or 7 touchdowns, yada, yada, yada!), well, we undeniably proved the kind of tough team that we are, and you better believe that Falcons football is for real, and we will be back next year, and we are a force to be reckoned with! GO FALCONS!!!
