Falcons Lose Barn Burner at Elkhorn

No Panic in Franz, or Players

The Central offense put up 41 points again this week.

But unfortunately, 41 points wasn’t enough this week, as Elkhorn ran for two late touchdowns to beat the visiting Falcons 46-41 on Friday night.

While a late loss might have some coaches feeling down, Central head coach, Jared Franz, is actually pumped.

“The thing I keep telling them is, ‘Guys this is our second game, all together.’ And the offensive side, they’ve just shot out of the gates…. But when we get the things that need to get fixed, fixed, there’s no telling how good that offense can be. So we’ll get there,” Franz said.

“Our offense played well, when we weren’t turning the ball over. So we stopped ourselves more than Elkhorn stopped us. I think we had 4 turnovers, at least, and still scored 41 points. So we just have to know how to protect the football, and how to keep momentum when we have it,” Franz added.

Central quarterback Michael Mulhollon (#1) put up over 300 yards again, passing for 254 yards and 2 TDs, while rushing for 80 yards and a TD on 12 carries.

Falcon bell-cow RB, Jakob Simmons (#42), ran for 176 yards and 3 TDs on 23 carries. And on defense, he registered 6 tackles, 1 sack, and a fumble recovery.

Coach Franz really liked what he saw in new RB Kyle Mitchell (#38) and his 5.8 yards per carry. “Kyle Mitchell, another running back for us, we felt had a really good night,” said Franz. [He} is doing really good things. He’s making good cuts. He’s making good reads. But this is his first year out for football also. So, there’s a little bit of getting to trust. Him and Ean (Daniels) too, did not play running back last year. So, Simmons is our most experienced of the backs, and those guys are just going to get better as they get comfortable with their positions in the new system.”

And Coach Franz is very confident the Falcons can, and will, clean up the defensive alignment problems that hurt against Elkhorn. “Third down on defense was a killer. We had them in 3-and-long, a few times, when we had the lead in the first half. And credit to them. They were able to convert. We made some alignment mistakes, which were critical. So we will get those cleaned up and be ready for next week,” said Franz.

Franz also acknowledged how tough Elkhorn is in the SLC. He said, “Elkhorn is a very, good team. They were big. They were physical. And their backs ran really hard.”

Wide receiver, Kenny Garth (#7) hauled in a 97 yard TD on 3-and-15, and never broke stride. It was a perfect throw and a great catch. He finished the game with 109 yards and a TD on 3 catches. (see “the bomb” at 2:12 mark in Falcon highlight link below)

https://www.hudl.com/team/v2/91310/Central-Varsity-Football = Central highlights

https://www.hudl.com/team/v2/37290/Boys-Varsity-Football = Elkhorn highlights (watch how TE gets open at 1:20 mark)

SCORING:

• W–Conner Grinde 30 pass from Michael Mulhollon (Benjamin LeFebve kick).
• W–Jakob Simmons 8 run (LeFebve kick).
• E–Jake Rockweiler 90 kickoff return (Samuel Woolever kick)
• W–Mulhollon 15 run (LeFebve kick)
• W–Simmons 20 run (kick blocked)
• E–Rockweiler 65 run (Woolever kick)
• E–Connor Lom 16 run (run failed)
• E–Rockweiler 12 run (Woolever kick)
• W–Kenneth Garth 97 from Mulhollon (kick blocked)
• E–Logan Page 2 run (Woolever kick)
• W–Simmons 18 run (Simmons run)
• E–Lom 20 run (kick failed)
• E–Jake Mogensen 72 run (pass failed).

Coach Franz knows his players believe they can run table in the last 5 games. “As frustrated as they were…. We had, what we felt like, was a pretty god week of practice. We came out, and the kids played really hard. The effort is there. The attitude is there. So sometimes you’re going to get some adversity. And we had a little bit of adversity with a loss….. And for the kids too. They’re excited. They’re legitimately talking about going on and going winning conference. And that’s awesome to hear, because, I think, in the past, it has been the opposite of that expectation….. So, we’re going to be fine. I’m excited for our future.“

Next game is scheduled to be Friday vs Wilmot. The scheduled kickoff time (7pm) is after the 2-week COVID shutdown time (3pm), so hopefully the game stays scheduled. County Sports Page will provide updates as they become available. This game is going to be a war.