Red Raiders spoil Falcons’ undefeated record
It was a long night for the Abbotsford football team last Friday. While the Marathon Red Raiders executed their game plan to near perfection for their Marawood conference opener, not much went the visiting Falcons way in a 56-12 blowout. Marathon took control early in their homecoming game, utilizing an effective passing attack to score quickly and put Abbotsford on its heels. The Falcons never seemed to recover from the initial onslaught, which the home team used to dominate on the ground in the second half.
Some might have predicted such a score going into the game, though perhaps with the roles reversed. Abbotsford was 4-0 at the time and had just come off a game where they had almost 700 yards of total offense. Marathon, meanwhile, was 2-2, and had just suffered a 51-20 defeat to Assumption. It was perhaps because of their early losses that the Red Raiders found such success early against an Abbotsford team that had not faced much adversity up until this point in the season.
Marathon had already had the opportunity to play against a solid team in Assumption, and while that certainly had not gone their way, their players had a chance to become accustomed to the speeds at which some teams play at. They may have also learned some lessons from a tough loss to Stanley-Boyd, a game in which the Red Raiders had a big lead early on but eventually gave away in the closing minutes.
Abbotsford, meanwhile, outside of the first few drives in their games against Loyal and Iola-Scandinavia, had not truly been challenged. This lack of competitive non-conference games concerned some going into the contest with Marathon, but it remained to be seen how the Falcons would match up with some of their Marawood opponents.
Regardless of whether or not either team’s previous games had any part to play in Friday’s contest, it was obvious that the Red Raiders wanted to come out of the gates swinging. They challenged Abbotsford’s secondary often on their first few drives, testing their skill players against the Falcons’ coverage. It was a battle that Marathon won, moving the ball down the field with relative ease, finding receivers Tyler Underwood and Griffin Treankler, as well as runningback Matt Annis, for several big plays through the air. The home team capitalized on these gains, scoring touchdowns on their first three drives.
On the opposite side of the football, Abbotsford struggled to get their running game going early. Quarterback JV Castillo and running back Christian Fuentes, who combined for nearly 1000 yards rushing in their first three games of the season, found that many of the running lanes they had used in prior games were being shut down, not allowing either rusher to utilize their speed and elusiveness to quite the same effect.
Penalties were key on the Falcons first few drives, with some setting the Falcons behind the chains and others reversing long gains. Short punts and turnovers on downs gave Marathon short field position, which only further hindered the Falcons attempts to keep their opponents from scoring.
Despite that, the Falcons seemed to find some footing in their first drive of the second quarter. Turning to the pass game, Castillo found senior Jacob Hirsch for a 15-yard gain on third down to keep the drive alive before the duo combined for a 34-yard pitch and catch two plays later to set Abbotsford up with a first and goal at their opponents’ three yard line. Castillo finished the drive off with a three-yard run to get the Falcons on the scoreboard.
Later in the second quarter, down 266, Abbotsford finally put a stop to Marathon’s scoring when sophomore Emilio Escalera picked off a pass at his own 20yard line. It was a stop that the Falcons desperately needed, and it looked like they were going to make the most of it. Castillo hit junior Evan Reis on a pass down the middle of the field for a 46-yard gain, setting up the visitors with an excellent opportunity to get back within striking distance. However, Marathon’s Hector Pintor stepped in front of a pass on the next play and intercepted it, ending the threat. A long touchdown run several plays later and the Falcons found themselves on the short end of a 32-6 halftime score.
The second half did not see the visitors fairing much better, with the Red Raiders establishing their run game and leaving the Falcons defense searching for answers. The highlight of the second half for Abbotsford came on a kickoff in the third quarter. Marathon had been using squib kicks to keep the ball out of the hands of Fuentes and Castillo on their prior kickoffs, but they decided to try to pin the Falcons deep. Fuentes made them pay for the mistake. Finally having the open space to use his speed, the freshman burned past Marathon’s cover team and scored Abbotsford’s second touchdown of the evening. However, with the Falcons still trailing 40-12, they would need several more big plays in order to truly get back into the game.
Those plays never materialized and Marathon only grew its lead in the fourth quarter, coasting to the 56-12 final.
It was a tough day for the Abbotsford ground game, with Castillo being held to 65 yards on 16 attempts and Fuentes gaining 33 yards on nine carries. Their only rush of 20 or more yards came on a Castillo run on the last play of the first half, which Abbotsford did not have the opportunity to take advantage of.
Hirsch finished with two catches for 49 yards and Reis had one for 46.
Defensively, the Falcons were led by Evan Schunk, who had 10 total tackles, followed by Brandon Diedrich who was in on eight of his own. Escalera had seven tackles in addition to his second quarter interception.
Abbotsford will look to get back to their winning ways at home this week Friday against Edgar. The Wildcats look to be a tough opponent and will also be looking to avenge their first loss of the season after falling to Colby 32-6 last week. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
