No. 3 IWA takes down No. 1 Falcons, 55-7

Published 10:17 am Tuesday, October 20, 2015

By Tom Lanigan

Longwood University

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Friday night’s home contest between the Fuqua School Falcons and the Isle of Wight Academy Chargers proved to be too much for the injury-riddled Falcons as they were defeated 55-7 by the Chargers. The Falcons, who have held the No. 1 rank in the VISAA Division IV standings, dropped to 4-2 in their season.

IWA improves to 6-1 and holds the No. 3 spot in the same standings.

Fuqua starting quarterback Devin Allen was sidelined with a shoulder injury he sustained in last week’s game, and according to Falcons head coach Ben Manis, Allen may be out for one more week, adding he had five players on the injured list.

The Falcons started strong, taking the opening kickoff 40 yards on a return by Ed Newman. They then contained the ball and scored a touchdown by managing five consecutive first downs capped by Tyler Frink’s breaking through on a first and ten. The extra point sailed through for the Falcons’ 7–0 lead.

Things continued to look good for the Falcons as IWA’s first possession ended with a punt after a series of miscues, but the Falcons’ second possession proved to be the way things would go for the team the rest of the game as the drive stalled with a Nicholas Farris punt. The Chargers took the kick, and Donald King scored, followed by a successful extra point which ended the first quarter with a tied score of 7 -7.

The second quarter began with the Falcons having to punt and King returning the ball for a 65-yard touchdown. The point after made the score 14–7, and remainder of the game belonged to the Chargers as they proceeded to march downfield for touchdown after touchdown.

The Falcons were called for multiple offensive penalties which only added to the yards gained by the Chargers.

With 4:56 remaining in the third quarter, Charger Curtis Waters took a 13-yard touchdown pass to make the score 41–7. A bright spot for the Falcons came as they blocked the extra point attempt. The blocked kick did little to disrupt the Chargers as they ended the game with their final touchdown with 4:17 remaining in the game.

“We will drop a few places in the standings, but the health of my team outweighs any thoughts of playoffs at this time,” said Manis.

The Falcons will return to action on Saturday when they travel to North Cross School at 2 p.m.