After kicking off the season with two straight away games, the Cougar Den finally opened to fans as Fallston football faced off against Cecil County’s Rising Sun High School in their home opener game.
Fallston set the tone early as sophomore quarterback Mikey Griffin Jr. rushed for a 52-yard touchdown on the second play of the game after Rising Sun elected to defer their winning coin toss and give the ball to the Cougars first. “The offense played really fast and aggressive. We moved the ball downfield on almost every drive and overall played really well,” Griffin said following Fridays blowout.
Offense wasn’t the only point of excellence on Friday though as the Cougars defense held a shutout till late in the 4th quarter. “Our defense played lights out in the run game,” junior defensive back Daniel Montoya said of the defense’s stellar performance. The Cougars have a +43-point differential through their first 3 games, allowing only 14 points in their last 2 games combined. “Our communication has been good all year but especially on Friday, we all had each other’s backs even when we did make mistakes,” Montoya continued.
Fallston’s offense continued to unleash on the now 0-3 Rising Sun Tigers, amassing 35 points as Mikey Griffin Jr. rushed for a second touchdown and found junior two-way player Zach Loewe in the endzone for the duo’s third touchdown connection in two weeks. Senior Captain, Dominic Foster, contributed two rushing touchdowns of his own.
The offensive line was also a big part of Friday’s win, allowing zero sacks and making quick work of the Tigers run-defense as they opened gaps to allow the Cougs to score four rushing touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, juniors Cole Shea and Oliver Rueckert contributed sacks and were able to shut down the run game with tackle-for-loss (TFL) from Zach Loewe, senior linebacker Evan Alcide, and others.
The faithful Cougar fans showed up in all red, white, and blue for Fridays night’s USA-themed game and had their own contributions (though they won’t show up on the stat sheet) as they packed the student section and ruthlessly cheered under guidance from the back-to-back-to-back state champion cheer team. The marching band squad also contributed great music and an exciting halftime performance.
Mikey Griffin Jr. was highlighted by @ucbacstats on Instagram for having 428 passing yards, 172 rushing yards, five touchdowns and no turnovers through his first two varsity starts. Now 2-1, the Cougars will hit the road for the third time in four weeks as they face off against the Havre De Grace Warriors (2-1) tonight.
