Last year, the Maritime/Health Sciences Falcons finished with just two wins. What a difference a year makes.
The Falcons jumped into first place in the Class B2 standings and improved to 3-0 after taking down Iroquois 34-13 on Friday night at Iroquois High School.
Early in the game, it became apparent both sides were going to lean heavily on their run game. Luckily for Maritime/Health Sciences, it was their offensive line that were able to win the battle up front consistently all night, and their running backs took advantage, as all five Falcon touchdowns came on the ground.
“Our offensive line…they’ve been blocking their tails off. I give them the MVP,” said Falcons head coach Ty Parker. “Without the offensive line, the running backs can’t get going and we can’t run in those touchdowns.”
After back-to-back turnovers to begin the game, Mekhi Bridgers got Maritime/Health Sciences on the board by capping off a long drive with a 1-yard score late in the first quarter. The Falcons went on to take a 20-0 lead into the half and not look back from there.
Bridgers went on to tally three total touchdowns on the night while his backfield partner Maurice Vaughn finished with over 100 yards on the ground and a touchdown of his own. Combine that with the Falcon defense holding the Chiefs scoreless until the fourth quarter, as well as forcing three turnovers, and it resulted in a recipe for success.
“We needed this win really bad because we didn’t have too much success last year,” said Bridgers. “We all grew as a family and took a bond during the offseason and camps, and we definitely played as a family today.”
After going down 26-0 in the third, the Chiefs (2-1, 1-1) did not lie down and pack it in till next week. Trey Kleitz found Tyler Barry for a 12-yard touchdown connection four minutes into the final quarter, and later ran in on a quarterback keeper for a rushing score near the end of the game.
“They capitalized on a couple mistakes that we had and we didn’t follow through and execute our offense the way we wanted,” said Iroquois head coach Robert Pitzonka. “We got it going a little bit in the fourth quarter and showed what we’re capable of doing, but Maritime did it for all four quarters.”
The Falcons face a tough challenge next week as they’ll go on the road to battle with Canisius on Saturday while Iroquois hopes to rebound at home Friday night against Maryvale.