By Eli LOCKE

Although the Falcons beat the Muir Mustangs last season in a 21-14 victory that broke what was becoming a tradition, the Falcons didn’t bring that winning spirit to the field last Friday.

Since the 2004-’05 season, the Falcons have only beaten the Mustangs twice.  This year, the Mustangs came into the game with a 1-3 record, with a win over San Gabriel their only victory.

The Falcons kicked off to start the game, and the Mustangs were quickly shut down by the Falcons defense. However, the Falcons fumbled on their first play giving the ball right back to the Mustangs. The Mustangs took advantage of the Falcons mistakes, as they quickly scored taking the lead; however Crescenta Valley cornerback Levi Walker blocked the extra point, leaving the score at 6-0. The Falcons failed to get a drive going, as the offense was quickly forced to punt.

The Mustangs drove down the field but were stopped on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Falcons, who once again were forced to punt after a short drive. Muir once again scored on a deep pass to the end zone, taking a 13-point lead. The Falcons had little success on their next drive, as they failed to gain any serious yardage.

The Mustang’s offense performed very well as the quarterback threw for another touchdown. On their next drive, Falcons kicker Pavle Atanackovic scored the Falcons’ first points of the night. The Falcons attempted an onside kick as the half wound down, however it was recovered by the Mustangs, who moved down the field to score again, bringing the score to 27-3 in favor of Muir.

The Falcons started the second half by fighting their way down the field for their first touchdown of the night, a pass from Paul Perugini to Nick Ruiz. The Mustangs came back and scored again with Levi Walker blocking another extra point attempt.  While trying to trick the defense, the Falcons attempted to pass from one receiver to another, however the ball was intercepted. The Falcons were becoming desperate, and their defense responded with an interception, which gave the Falcons both momentum and field position.

The offense started to make plays, as Perugini threw for a first down, followed by both Perugini and Kevin Fernandez, as Fernandez gave the Falcons the field position to let Perugini run it in for a touchdown. The Mustangs were now simply trying to keep their lead by running down the clock, and after very little success on either offense, the game ended with a score of 39-16 Muir.

  football, Muir, Sports