Warriors pigskin begins

On Friday, September 5, the Fallbrook Warriors varsity football team kicked off their season opener at home against the Murrieta Valley Nighthawks. The defense kept Fallbrook in the match for the majority of the game, but the inability of the offense to find the end zone resulted in a loss of 25-13.

The Warriors’ first possession was a shaky one, racking up two fumbles on the drive. The second fumble occurred on the punt, recovered by Fallbrook near the five-yard line. The mistake set up a touchdown run by the Nighthawks’ quarterback, putting Murrieta Valley on the board first.

Later in the first quarter, Fallbrook’s punter, Brady Harrington, ran for 40 yards on a fake punt. However, the trick play was erased by a Warrior penalty. Soon after, a Fallbrook interception return to the wrong end zone put the Nighthawks up 9-0 at the end of the first quarter.

After a field goal by Brady Harrington, Fallbrook’s Cormac Kenan intercepted the ball and returned it for a touchdown. “I just saw the quarterback’s eyes and read him well,” said Kenan. The score put the Warriors up 10-9.

Following a Nighthawk field goal, Fallbrook’s Marquis Sumpter returned a kickoff for a touchdown. However, the play was called back due to another yellow flag. This set up a Harrington field goal, giving the Warriors a 13-12 lead going into halftime.

In the third quarter, Fallbrook was forced to punt on their first possession. Instead, Fallbrook used the fake punt again. This time, it resulted in a Warrior first down. On the same drive, another fumble gave the ball back to the Nighthawks.

After a series of punts by both teams, Fallbrook fumbled the ball once again. This set up a 13-yard touchdown pass for Murrieta Valley, giving them an 18-13 lead.

An interception thrown by Fallbrook’s quarterback, Michael Welsh, was returned for a touchdown and the Warriors seemed to have run out of gas in the fourth quarter. The score put a Warrior victory out of reach as the Nighthawks carried the momentum for the win.

“I’m proud of our effort; I think they played hard,” said Fallbrook coach Joe Silvey after the game. “Unfortunately, we just made too many mistakes, which is often what the losing team in the first week has to say about themselves. But I think there’s a lot of hope for next week and future weeks because of the effort. I look forward to building on that.”

The Warriors’ next game is on September 12 at Vista.