Soaring Falcons are Grounded by Marist

The magic carpet ride that was flying into the conference schedule for  Elmira's football team was brought to earth in the most guttural way, as Marist Catholic managed to snuff out a Falcon offense that came in to the game as the #3 scoring team in 4A, as the Spartans defeated  then #4 ranked Elmira 15-2.

"We could have won this game," head coach Justin Peeler said as he came off the field.  This could be an enormous understatement.  Peeler was looking back at the squandered opportunities that Elmira left on the field.  Four times the Falcons had the ball inside the Marist red zone; three of those were inside the Spartan's 5 yard line.  On all of those drives, the Falcons were turned away, as they failed to score an offensive touchdown for the first time this year.

Elmira's sophomore quarterback Cobyn Herbert (17) fires a pass under heavy pressure from a defender in the first quarter of the Falcons' 15-2 defeat to Marist, Friday September 21 at Swartz Field.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie

The contest was a defensive slug fest with quarterbacks paying the price.  Passing was a premium for both teams, though Marist QB Joey Laing did manage to connect on a 40 yard pass and the Spartans' halfback Hagen Stephenson connected on a 35 yard option pass.  Both strikes led to both of Marist's touchdowns, a 2 yard touchdown by Hayden Loboy, and a 3 yard run by Laing.  However, the Elmira defense came to play and did their job, pressuring Laing all night, registering 5 sacks and a safety from a holding penalty in the end zone which closed the score to 7-2 in the second period.  The Elmira defense held the Marist offense to under 200 yards.  The Falcons defense was led by Alex Head who rung up 7 tackles on the night.

Elmira running back Ryan Imelm (33) catches a pass in the soft spot of the Marist defensive zone early in the first half of the Spartans' 15-2 win over the Falcons Friday September 21 at Swartz Field.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie

In like manner, the Marist defense dismantled the Falcon offense, punishing Elmira quarterbacks with 8 sacks on the day, usually at the most inopportune moments of the game.  Starting quarterback Cobyn Herbert was workmanlike in passing 8 of 15 for 81 yards.  However, Herbert injured his knee late in the first half while the Falcons were still inside the Marist 5 yard line.  Back up quarterback Wolfgang Marsalis came on and was immediately sacked by Marist and the drive was thwarted.  Marsalis' night was miserable, throwing 2 for 9 and a meager 4 yards while absorbing 5 sacks the rest of the way and failing to show the  kind of foot speed that Herbert has shown that propelled the offense this season .  This changed the complexion of the Falcons offense, which failed to threaten Marist significantly afterwards.

Falcon defenders Blake Wigham (28) and Bryce Sawyer (20) combine on tackling Marist tailback Hayden Loboy during the Spartan's 15-2 victory over Elmira Friday September 21 at Swartz Field.  Photo by Kimberly Lillie

Herbert's knee injury could mean a decision for Peeler between the established backup Marsalis and the faster Rowdy Ramirez, who got quarterback time earlier this year in a mop up role at Suislaw.  The diagnosis and prognosis of Herbert's injury was not available at press time.

The Falcons have the opportunity to get both healthy and back into the win column as they host bottom dwelling Junction City for homecoming this Friday, September 28 at Swartz Field.

Elmira Opens 2018 with a Bang, Demolishing Suislaw

When asked about the difficult road ahead with three teams in the top five rankings in the 4A-Sky Em Conference, Head Coach Justin Peeler felt like his young, inexperienced Elmira Falcons would be ready for the opening game of the 2018 season against Suislaw.  Peeler may have underestimated his team.

With the Falcons scoring in every conceivable ways on both sides of the ball and the Elmira's defensive line bullying the hapless Suislaw offensive line, Peeler's team raced out to a 28-0 first quarter lead and never looked back, punishing the Vikings 74-6 at Suislaw High School in Florence, Friday August 31.

Viking's quarterback Elijah Blankenship was like a lamb led to slaughter.  The diminutive Suislaw QB was constantly running for his life from a relentless pass rush led by Cobyn Herbert, who led the team in tackles with 4 and registered the only sack of the night.  The pursuit of Blankenship was so vexing that there never seemed a play when Viking passes weren't under extreme duress, rolling out of the pocket and throwing desperately out of bounds. Blankenship was only 6-18 passing for 43 yards and one touchdown.  Blankenship was intercepted three times including a pick six by the Falcons' Rowdy Ramirez that made the score 49-0.

Suislaw quarterback scrambles away from a heavy rush by Elmira defenders Cobyn Herbert (17) and Ryan Imel (33) during the Falcon's 74-6 rout of the Vikings.  Photo by Stan Pusieski/ExplodingWhaleSports.com

In contrast to Blankenship's nightmare, it was the first start for Herbert at quarterback.  Throwing sparingly but efficiently, he was 3 for 4 for 43 yards and two touchdown passes.  Herbert also blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown as well.  Herbert, the 6-4, 195 pound sophomore,  has the confidence of his coach.

"He is a gamer," Peeler said in an email.  "He steps it up a whole level when he steps onto the field for games."

Abundantly clear, early in the game, was that Elmira's defensive line had so thoroughly demoralized the Vikings, that the game lost all sense of competitiveness by midway through the second quarter.  Elmira's huge halftime lead led officials to run the clock on the "mercy rules", without stopping the clock for out of bounds and first downs for the entire second half. 

"Overall, the defense stepped up and dominated the game for us," Peeler commented in an email.

In the wreckage of the aftermath, Elmira could count 5 turnovers forced, holding the opponent to 161 yards and just over 3 yards a play, while accumulating 480 yards and 8 offensive touchdowns.  If there was a flaw in the performance it would point to the 12 penalties for 119 yards.  However, Gavin Laing came off the JV bench to bolt 70 yards for the final score of the night to salve any tarnish from the officials.

"He is special," Peeler said of Laing, "but we want to give him one year of JV.  He will see minutes, hopefully, every week on Varsity.  He has the potential to be a great running back."

The next game is another road game own south at North Valley on Friday at 7pm. Victory in the out of league contest promises to be a more daunting accomplishment for the Falcons.

"This will be a better test as to who we are as a team," noted Peeler.  "They are big and physical.  We need to dominate their line to win this game."

The game will be replayed at 4pm Sunday afternoon by KOCF, 92.5 FM.