Mixed bag for Falcons in Texas

It seems like the Falcon varsity football team had a fairly strong outing in Texas but plenty of things to work on. That's exactly why Louie Walters schedules these tough early games against big schools -- Alice High School has approximately 1,900 students, as does this week's opponent Leland, about double what Scotts Valley has. These early games bring lots of lessons, often painfully delivered, but they pay off tenfold when schedule moves to SCCAL-only opponents, which is where championships and post-season glory is won. Last year, the Falcons were 1-3 as I recall, but the tough competition meant they were ready in spades for their league opponents, which is what lead to their great season last year.

In assessing the Alice game, the fact that the Falcons played -- literally -- by a different set of rules is an easy factor to overlook. Cut or chop blocking, where you essentially throw yourself against a defender's legs, is only legal in California football between the tackles; in Texas, you can do it anywhere on the field. As you can imagine, it's a technique that produces lots of injuries. This was the only game of the year where that's the case, so it didn't make sense for all the Falcons to practice cut blocking; besides, there's not a great way to practice it without doing it, which of course could lead to practice injuries. Several of the players seemed thrown for a loop by the cut blocking everywhere during the first half.

In allowing 527 yards of Alice offense, it was obviously not a night up to the usual high standard for Jeff Metter's Falcon defenses. The good news is, SV almost certainly won't face another team with the kind of speed in the backfield that Alice has until the post-season. Having two backfield threats who were off to the races as soon as they get a step on you is a recipe for long touchdown runs, as the Coyotes showed. Leland will be a great test of how much of the Falcons' defensive problems were due to exceptional backs the likes of which we won't see again in league play, or whether there's something systemic.

It'll be interesting to see on Saturday if Scotts Valley can succeed offensively where they couldn't last week in establishing the running game. In addition to the record-holding Kyle Hardwick, the Falcons have unusually capable rushers in Blaine Bariteau and Caleb Read, so the weapons are there. Given a significantly lighter O-line this year than last, though, what kind of holes will they have this season? Even if the Falcons do run successfully this season -- and I think they will -- it might not be the kind of early game success of last year where teams were struggling to contain Hardwick from the get go an on their heels for the rest of the game. Against Alice, it was Blake Jurich's passing to Joey Bright that loosened Alice's defense up and moved the sticks. Against the big D-line from Leland, will the Falcons again look to establish the run first, or come out throwing with Jurich to spread the Chargers from the start?

Don't forget the freshman and JV games early in the day Saturday. Both of those teams should continue last year's success and contend for the league's top spot. And turn out at 2 p.m. to support the varsity Falcons and watch some great football!