Big first half pushes Abby past Thunderbirds

The Abbotsford Falcons grabbed their fourth victory of the season last Friday, defeating Iola-Scandinavia 34-12 on the road to remain undefeated. The Thunderbirds’ defense was unable to find a way to stop the Falcons’ ground game, which was able to accumulate over 400 yards and five touchdowns over the course of the contest.

The visiting Abbotsford squad got off to a quick start, scoring twice in the opening quarter. The Falcons’ offensive line made way for a host of big runs in the first, allowing their backs to rack up six rushes of 10 or more yards.

Both of quarterback JV Castillo’s first quarter touches went for first downs, tallying runs of 14 and 27 yards and Emilio Escalera had one run of 11 yards. Christian Fuentes scampered for 10 and 14 yards in his first two touches and was eventually able to find the end zone for Abbotsford’s first score of the game on a two-yard run. The sophomore running back also had the longest play of the game for the Falcons later on in the quarter, breaking away from the pack for a 68-yard touchdown that put his team up 12-0.

Abbotsford continued to lay down the pressure in the second quarter, continuing to pick up large chunks of yards on the ground. Fuentes continued his stellar evening with his third score on a 13-yard run and Castillo added a touchdown of his own, scoring from 23 yards out. Iola-Scandinavia managed to finally break through the Falcons’ defense to score their first points of the game in the second, but Abbotsford held a solid 28-6 lead heading into halftime.

Neither team could find a way into the end zone in the third, with better defensive play and some untimely penalties stopping drives in their tracks. Escalera and Castillo had several solid carries for the Falcons, but they could not quite keep drives alive to capitalize on those plays and the two teams remained deadlocked at 28-6 heading into the fourth.

While the Thunderbirds would manage to put their second touchdown on the board in the fourth, time was not on the home team’s side. Castillo put the game out of reach with his second touchdown of the game, taking the ball from around midfield to the end zone for a 48-yard score, closing the door on any presumptive comeback from the home team.

The Falcons racked up 254 yards on the ground in the first half and added another 171 rushing in the second, giving them 425 total on just 41 carries.

The trio of Castillo, Fuentes and Escalera averaged over 11.5 yards per rush, with Castillo picking up 143 yards and two touchdowns, Fuentes recording 180 yards and three touchdowns and Escalera adding 80 yards.

Two passes from Castillo to Evan Reis and AJ Brodhagen for 13 and 14 yards respectively in the first half helped keep the offense on the field. The Falcons quarterback also had an interception.

Meanwhile, the Falcons defense held the Iola-Scandinavia offense to under 250 yards of total offense. “Our defense ran to the ball really well,” head coach Jake Knapmiller said. “We made some mistakes but their quarterback was very athletic and challenged us. They ran and hit very well but sometimes waited too long or didn’t trust their keys. Our seniors Ashton Hammel, JV Castillo and Evan Reis really stepped up on defense and played well. We created two turnovers and had a handful of stops on our end of the field.”

Fuentes led the team with 10 total tackles and Reis added eight of his own. Castillo and Daniel Davila had seven each and Castillo picked off a pass from Iola-Scandinavia’s Jensen Rice in the second quarter.

The win gave the Falcons a 4-0 record heading into their first conference game of the season. Abbotsford will host Marathon this coming Friday, Sept. 15 and will be looking for their first Marawood win since 2021. Having weathered some early injuries, the Falcons’ lineup will likely look more complete heading into the matchup than the past few weeks.

“We are getting back to full strength with a couple of guys returning from injury and a few guys able to rejoin after violations in the first few weeks,” Knapmiller said. “When the total number of guys is under 25, having injuries is magnified.”

“On the positive side we have had a great chance to see what some of the young players can do in the first few weeks,” he added. “We will have success in the future if our young guys figure out a solid off-season and buy into what some of our topend committed kids have done.”

The team will be looking for a better result against Marathon than last season, a contest which they lost to the Red Raiders 56-12.

Marathon is 3-1 this season and is coming off a 48-7 victory over Assumption last week. While they lost 50-6 in week two to Stanely-Boyd, the Red Raiders have won their last two games by 40 or more points.

They will bring a fairly balanced offense to the table, averaging 188.2 yards per game on the ground and 133.0 yards per game passing. Cooper Hoeksema serves as the squad’s primary passer, though True Thurs had thrown 22 passes this season. A combination of Thurs, Chris Marcell and Noah Thompson have been the primary options for the Red Raiders’ rushing attack and Tyler Underwood has 17 catches for 273 yards and three touchdowns this season. Senior linebacker Luke Aschbrenner leads the team with 29 tackles.

The matchup between the Falcons and the Red Raiders is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.