Abby football win streak ends in Edgar
The Abbotsford Falcons suffered their first loss of the season last Friday, falling to a tough Edgar Wildcats squad on the road. The home team proved dominant on both sides of the ball, picking up 271 yards on the ground while holding Abbotsford to just 76 yards of total offense in the 43-0 shutout.
The Falcons could not find much to work with on offense in the loss, averaging just 2.3 yards per rush and going 0-4 through the air. The shutout was Edgar’s fourth in a row and the Wildcats defense has only allowed 14 points over their first six games.
Abbotsford had some opportunities early to perhaps change the flow of the game, but they were unable to come up with a big play to take advantage of those situations.
After falling behind 8-0 after Edgar’s first drive, JV Castillo provided the Falcons with a boost on the ensuing kickoff, taking it to the Abbotsford 45-yard line. With excellent starting field position, the Falcons were able to pick up a first down and move into Wildcat territory. A huge run by Chrisitan Fuentes on a fourthand- two play went for 13 yards and set up the visitors at Edgar’s 22-yard line.
The promising possession was cut short on the next play, as Edgar linebacker Karter Butt was able to reel in an interception along Abbotsford’s sideline to give the ball back to the Wildcats.
However, the Falcons defense responded almost immediately. On the second play of Edgar’s possession, Abbotsford was able to strip the ball loose on a run up the middle. Evan Reis was able to come away with the fumble for the Falcons, who took over at Edgar’s 19-yard line.
A penalty and a snap that got away from Castillo sent the Falcons backward and forced them to punt despite being on Edgar’s 30-yard line. On the punt, a Wildcats’ special teams player roughed Castillo on the kick, giving the Falcons 15 yards and an automatic first down on the penalty.
Once again, the Falcons were unable to make any headway against the stalwart Edgar defense. Fuentes was tackled for a loss on the first play and the short run and two incompletions that followed gave the ball back to Edgar.
The Wildcats would then score on both of their second quarter possessions to give themselves a 22-0 lead heading into halftime. Another solid kick return, this time courtesy of Fuentes, had set up the Falcons near midfield on their final drive of the half, and while they were able to push into Edgar territory once more, time expired before the visitors could make anything of it.
Fuentes took Abbotsford across midfield with their biggest play of the game on the first possession out of the half. The Falcons running back broke out of a tackle and scampered for 19 yards before being pushed out of bounds. However, the visitors could not hold on to the momentum generated by the gain and turned the ball over on downs four plays later. They would not hold the ball on Edgar’s side of the field for the rest of the game.
The Wildcats did not surrender another first down on defense, forcing two three-and-outs and taking over on downs on Abbotsford’s final possession. They also scored on all three of their own drives, not including the final possession in which they ran out the remaining time on the clock.
Of Abbotsford’s 76 yards, Fuentes had 47 on 13 carries. Chase Boller was the only other member of the team that was in the double digits for total yards, picking up 14 on four carries. Emilio Escalera had eight yards on four carries, Castillo had four yards on ten carries and Irvin Aguilera had three yards on two attempts.
The 43-0 loss dropped the Falcons into a tie with Colby for third place in the conference. They will be looking to bounce back on the road this coming Friday, Sept. 29, when they play Auburndale. The Eagles are currently undefeated and sit tied at the top of the conference with a 2-0 Marawood conference record. The Eagles took down Marathon 44-29 in their last outing, putting up three touchdowns in each half to notch the win against the Red Raiders.
Kickoff for the Falcons/Eagles matchup is scheduled for 7 p.m.
