The laundry list was an indictment of everything that the Elmira Falcons did to gift wrap a 45-13 victory to Cottage Grove Friday October 5 at Ben White Field at Cottage Grove High School. Three fumbles lost, one interception, one snap over the punter's head recovered inside the 5 yard line, and two crippling personal fouls were the highlights of the debacle.
"I think the pressure of the game got to them," head coach Justin Peeler said in an email. " Giving (Cottage Grove)... 4 possessions inside the 20 really cost us the game. We played pretty equal other than the mistakes." Turnovers allowed to the Lions to start drives on the 12, 9, 4, and 15 yard lines. All four were converted to touchdowns.
Playing on artificial turf in a steady drizzling rain, the Falcons were unable to keep the ball at the start of drives. It was deep into the second quarter before Elmira recorded their first play for positive yardage. The Falcons did manage to come off the deck however.
Down 28-0, Brady Nagel finally got loose and scampered 44 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-7. Again, on the first drive of the second half, Nagel took the rock to the house with an electrifying 61 yard run which closed the score to 28-13 after the missed extra point. For the briefest moment, hope sprung eternal again for Falcons fans.
However, after a nifty return by Cottage Grove's Jacob Dunn to the Falcons's 47, the Lions went on a 10 play drive which culminated in an Erick Giffen 31 yard field goal to extend the lead to 31-13. On the ensuing Elmira drive, Rowdy Ramirez threw his first interception of the season and it was returned to the 4 yard line which was converted to a touchdown by Cottage Grove quarterback Dylan Graves. It was his third rushing touchdown. The Lions' Fernando Giffen also scored three touchdowns.
With the loss, the Falcons fell to 4-2, 1-2 in the conference, with the final conference regular season game on the road next Friday October 12, against mighty Marshfield, who will be heavily favored. The Falcons will be without the services of linebacker/wide receiver Gavin Parker who was suspended for two games for disciplinary reasons.
"Marshfield is above and beyond good," Peeler commented. "They have 92 plus players on their team. They have a Division 1 tight end already committed to Oregon State University. We will have our hands full all night just trying to compete with them."
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