This was a Glendale team that still had some external doubt hanging around it. A team that won three games last year and two the year before. But now, this a team that walked off the field at Lowe Stadium against previously undefeated Kickapoo with a 40-20 win and a 5-0 record.
From a Kickapoo fan’s perspective, Thursday night’s result wasn’t supposed to happen. Especially not this way, with Glendale’s defense forcing five turnovers and intercepting Chiefs quarterback Chris Lawson three times in the first half alone. But it did happen, and the Falcons have silenced any remaining doubters in the most definitive of fashions.
“Our guys have really worked hard to try to improve our defense,” Glendale coach Mike Mauk said. “It’s about the commitment of a lot of guys, not just the 11 out there.”
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That commitment to defense includes the Glendale offense. Why? The Falcons’ defense spends the majority of its week practicing against that offense (the nation’s top offense, statistically). Imagine how much that slows down a game for the 11 defensive starters once the lights come on Friday (or Thursday!) night.
“I think it helps us a lot,” Mauk said of the practice reps. “But we were just fortunate to get some breaks early and get momentum going our way, and then our guys made plays.”
The game’s first 59 seconds saw a Luke Montgomery fumble recovered by Kickapoo and a Chiefs fumble on the very next play recovered by Glendale. That fumble would be a bit of an omen for a Chiefs team that hadn’t turned the ball over once all season. The early turnovers continued when Sam Gleason picked off an ill-advised Alex Huston pass on the subsequent drive, but Lawson then threw a pick of his own, the first of two that would end up in Datryell Nash’s hands.
Lawson hadn’t thrown an interception all season but threw three tonight.
“We thought they were a good defensive football team going into it,” Kickapoo coach Kurt Thompson said. “They took some things away from us.”
Thompson said it right there. Glendale took more away from Kickapoo than the ball on five occasions. They managed to take away space. Maverick McGee ran for scores of 28 and 53 yards as a part of a 174-yard night, but beyond those two rushes he totaled 93 yards on 25 carries. That’s 3.72 yards per carry (taking out the touchdown runs) for a back who was averaging 9.1 yards per carry coming into Thursday night.
“They played well and we had five turnovers,” Thompson said. “That’s not taking away a thing from them. They made more plays on offense and more plays on defense than we did. To beat them, you can’t turn the ball over, and we did that.”
And the nation’s leading passer made them pay. Alex Huston was excellent Thursday, completing 47 of 70 attempts for 566 yards and five touchdowns (plus a sixth on the ground). He’s now sitting on 2,657 yards and 32 total touchdowns through five games. But as impressive as Huston’s arm was, his legs, especially inside the pocket, may have done the most damage to Kickapoo’s psyche. Huston escaped no fewer than five sacks and managed to keep his eyes downfield on nearly every occasion, only tucking the ball away and running as a last resort.
“Our offensive line does a great job of blocking him and protecting him, but when things break down, he does a great job of making the first guy miss, and then he’s aware of where our guys are upfield,” Mauk said on Huston’s escapability.
“He’s a team player. He’s got a role to play on our team and he’s done a great job of doing that.”
Huston but the Falcons up 6-0 with 4:00 to play in the first quarter (which is way past the over/under for minutes it’d take one of these offenses to score, probably) with a 20-yard pass to Von Oeser. Oeser had one heck of a night, finishing with 13 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns (the second a 45-yard bomb that put Glendale up 26-7 with 2:05 to play in the first half). But Oeser is a hungry senior and HE WANTED MORE.
“I just wish he hit me a little more often,” he said with a wry smile. “He missed me though. I’m gonna give him a hard time about that.”
Oeser had 100+ yard company in Luke Montgomery (11 rec., 112 yards, TD) and Jeremy Almeida (14 rec., 181 yards, TD), and Max Nichols hauled in the other Huston touchdown when the pair put Glendale up 12-0 from 11 yards out with 26 left in the first quarter.
“Our receivers did a really good job of catching the ball,” Mauk said. “I (also) thought they did a real good job of blocking for the other guys once they caught the ball.”
“Their offense creates problems for you,” Thompson said. “They played very well and I’m not sure we played our best, and they had a lot to do with that. We just didn’t make plays.”
Even Thompson couldn’t hold back from praising Huston after the game.
“He’s a player. A great competitor. I like watching him. He made more plays than we did.”
Glendale’s 12-0 lead was cut to 12-7 with 8:33 to play in the second quarter on McGee’s 28-yard touchdown scamper, but that would be the closest the Chiefs would get the rest of the game. Huston scored from the four on a designed quarterback run with 6:18 to go in the half, putting Glendale up 18-7. Oeser’s second touchdown of the first half made the game 26-7 with 2:05 to go in the second (an assist to Spencer Wester on that touchdown, who tipped the ball right to a wide-open Oeser).
The fast start was key for Glendale after close games at the half in their last two wins over West Plains and Lebanon.
“I was chastised a little bit by our offensive coordinator for deferring (after winning the coin toss) a couple weeks ago, so we decided to take the ball every time we can,” he said. “We never lost momentum or gave momentum away and stayed in the ballgame with the early turnovers. We caught the rhythm and tempo of the game and were able to do things the way we’re able to in practice.”
Oeser echoed his coach.
“Come out fast. Keep our tempo up and, on defense, get stops,” he said. “We came out very prepared for this game. Our whole team was ready to come out.”
Kickapoo had a chance to grab momentum going into the half after McGee scored from 53 yards out, followed by the Chiefs defense forcing a three-and-out and giving their offense the ball on Glendale’s 25 with 30 seconds to go in the second quarter. That momentum all but ended with Lawson was intercepted by Nick Austin in the endzone.
“[Kickapoo] is very talented and very good,” Mauk said. “Coach Thompson and his staff do a great job. We were very fortunate to win the game tonight.”
The third quarter was scoreless for nearly seven minutes before Almeida caught a bullet from Huston on a slant route from the six-yard line, pushing Glendale’s lead to 32-14. A McGee fumble at midfield on Kickapoo’s subsequent drive was recovered by Glendale, and Montgomery would make the score 40-14 in favor of the Falcons with a nine-yard touchdown catch not long after.
Lawson added a rushing touchdown for Kickapoo late in the third, but the Chiefs couldn’t get anything going offensively in the fourth quarter.
Glendale travels to Parkview (2-2) next Friday. Kickapoo gets a chance to bounce back when it hosts Hillcrest (2-2).
“One game doesn’t define our season,” Thompson said. “We’ll go back to work and learn from it and get better.”
As for Oeser? He’s got that coaches lingo down pat.
“We’re just preparing for Parkview,” he said. “One game at a time.”
