The Falcons’ three-game win streak ended with a 49-14 home loss to the Milpitas Trojans on Sept. 23, bringing their overall record to 3-2 and their league record to 0-1.
Tonight’s Homecoming game against Palo Alto offers them a chance at redemption at the same time they try to pick up an important league victory.
Last Friday, they were undersized compared to the Trojans, and faced an uphill battle the whole game. They were down 34-0 at one point.
Worse still, the boys suffered several injuries against Milpitas, losing two key players, seniors defensive end Aaron Vogel and wide receiver Daelan Denenberg, both of whom may be out for the rest of the season.
Vogel suffered a sprained and possibly torn ACL, while Denenberg got injured in the second quarter when he separated his sternoclavicular joint and fractured his clavicle.
“I obviously don't feel that good about the injury, but there's nothing I can do about it,” Denenberg said. “I just have to hope it heals before the season’s over and cheer on my teammates.”
Though they trailed by 34 points earlier in the game, the Falcons put their final points on the board in the last quarter when senior wide receiver Kian Ghelichkhani scored a touchdown to end the game 49-14. He believes the team could have been competitive with Milpitas — a traditional powerhouse in the league — if they had come out stronger in the first half.
“It was good to see our team have a good drive and get points on the board,” Ghelichkhani said. “I wasn’t happy because I knew we could have won, but I was proud that to see us execute and play harder in the second half.”
Ghelichkhani hopes that if everyone on the team continues to stay focused during practice and work hard then the Falcons will have a great season.
One week earlier, the Falcons were feeling much better when they traveled to Leigh High School and handed the Longhorns a crushing 42-27 defeat. Junior wide receiver Will Turpin said a strong start was the key to the victory.
“We felt confident prior to the game because we were on a two-game win streak after beating Silver Creek and Piedmont Hills, and we were prepared because we studied the film all week,” Turpin said.
The Falcons are feeling confident heading into the game tonight against the Vikings, who have a record of 2-3 so far. Historically, the Falcons have had success when facing the Vikings. Last year, however, the Falcons lost to Palo Alto in a crushing overtime defeat that was a significant factor in keeping them out of the CCS playoffs.