Kristen Baranski

Senior lineman Kyle Freebesyser is one of five Longhorns who left Friday’s game with an injury.

The varsity football team lost a hard fought contest against Rockwood Summit, on Friday Sept. 4. The final was 35-7 moving Summit to 3-0 with the Horns falling to 2-1.

“A main problem in the game on Friday was that we didn’t communicate well on defense. That is something we will have to work on through out the week. Not everyone was on the same page and it showed with the final score,” junior linebacker Nate Hughes said.

Summit totaled 432 total yards of total offense, while holding West to only 216 yards.

“Summit was more aggressive upfront on the offensive and defensive line. We didn’t move the ball well on offense for the first week this year. On a positive note we have all week to clean up both sides of the ball,” junior wide receiver Clay Bierk said.

The Falcons started off the game with a 60-yard touchdown pass to jump out to an early 7-0 lead.

“Our secondary on defense didn’t play our best game.  This week we are really going to have to focus on our technique that Coach [Scott] Weissman always preaches,” senior cornerback Jack Russell said. “It worked the first two games and it seemed like on Friday we got away from it a little bit.”

The game was a wake up call for the team.

“We need to stay more focused during practice and really go after it so we are prepared for U-City. U-City has a great running back that we need to stop in order to win,” junior line backer Drew Seers said.

The Longhorns ran the ball well on the night with senior Nick Lewis carrying the ball 20 times for 107 yards. The highlight of the game came in the fourth quarter when senior running back Henderson Faulkner ran for a 52-yard touchdown.

“It was good to at least get some points up there on the scoreboard. This game was a learning experience that will help us later down the road and into the playoffs,” Faulkner said.

The story line of the game was the injuries that plagued the team. Junior wide receiver Tyrice Hines left the game with a shoulder injury while senior wide receiver Daniel Bickert left with a knee injury.

“Injuries are a part of the game, they are going to happen,” senior lineman Kyle Freebersyser said. “The best teams are able to bounce back from these obstacles and move forward to the next game.”

The team looks to bounce back against 3-0 U-City on Friday, Sept.11, at home.

“You can’t take any game for granted. U-City has gotten out to a great start; it should be a great game. It helps that we finally have our first game at home, its tough starting out the first three games on the road,” junior Logan Williams said.