FALMOUTH – Jim Aylward, the longtime Mountain Valley coach, said he’s coached more talented teams over the years. But this year’s version of the Falcons has made its own legacy.

“The kids just play so hard,” he said. “We don’t always play smart football, but they play hard every play for us. It’s a privilege to coach them.”

All that work was on display Friday night as Mountain Valley remained undefeated in Western Class B with a 38-0 rout of Falmouth.

Josh Allen scored four touchdowns, Cam Kaubris intercepted two passes (returning one 60 yards for a touchdown) and the Falcons limited Falmouth to 12 yards rushing.

“They set the standard,” said Falmouth Coach John Fitzsimmons. “All 11 guys on every play are coming at you.”

In addition to the two interceptions, the Falcons (7-0) recovered three fumbles by Falmouth (4-3), two on kickoff returns.

Advertisement

And Mountain Valley had some luck.

The Falcons were driving late in the first quarter when they faced a fourth-and-1 at the Falmouth 37. Izaak Mills rushed inside and the ball suddenly squirted backward out of the pile — right to Allen at the 38.

He caught the ball, hesitated a moment, then took off down the left sideline.

No one was sure what happened, so no one pursued him. He scored easily.

“That’s called ‘Better to be lucky than good,’ ” said Aylward. “But I think it was a spark we needed. We’ve been struggling offensively. We’re mixing it up, trying different stuff, different combinations of kids in the line. That’s a nice break to get early in a big game. I’ll be honest.”

Asked if it was a lateral, Aylward said, “We do a lot of misdirection, but that wasn’t one.”

Advertisement

Allen said he was just lucky to be where he was.

“They put their helmet right on the ball, popped it out, and I just happened to be standing right behind him,” he said. “I caught it and took off.”

Fitzsimmons said teams can’t afford breaks like that going against them when playing Mountain Valley.

“When you’re playing a team with such great tradition as Mountain Valley, you don’t need anything to go wrong,” he said. “To their credit, they got the bounce and it got them rolling.”

The Falcons put together a 72-yard drive to start the second quarter, culminating in a 5-yard run by Allen. Then John Durland blocked a punt out of the end zone with 29 seconds left in the half to make it 18-0.

It stayed that way into the fourth quarter, when the Falcons broke it open. Allen scored on a 43-yard run and a 2-yard run (following a fumble on the kickoff), and Kaubris returned his second interception for a score.

Advertisement

Mountain Valley controlled the tempo with a punishing running game. Taylor Bradley gained 152 yards rushing and Allen had 92. Falmouth, meanwhile, couldn’t establish anything offensively.

The Falcons took away top receiver Jack Cooleen and held Falmouth to 58 yards of offense, sacking Zach Alexander four times.

“(Cooleen’s) a good player but that doesn’t shut us down,” said Fitzsimmons. “We weren’t executing. The run plays weren’t what we needed and the passing game wasn’t as strong as we wished. We’ll fix ourselves during the week and get ready for next week.”

 

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at: mlowe@pressherald.com

 


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.