Tobias Linkin is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Fountain Hills High School for AZPreps365.com

 

It’s 6:02 p.m. in the third quarter. Defensive lineman and team captain Luis Leon makes a tackle for loss on first down, ripping through two offensive linemen and giving Gilbert Christian High School a second-and-17. 

The sideline is dead silent. 

“I think morale is just pretty low,” team captain Jack Boersma said. 

The 2-4 Fountain Hills Falcons played the 3-3 Gilbert Christian Knights on September 27. The Falcons came into the game on a three-game losing streak. When these two teams met last year, Gilbert Christian won 46-7. Tonight was a similar result with Gilbert Christian coming out on top 49-7. 

Fountain Hills played without 18 players due to injury and a virus around the high school.

Yet Coach Pete Schermerhorn said he was seemingly unbothered. 

“You play with who you can,” Schermerhorn said after the game. “It’s next man up.” 

Team captain Sam Barnard said he didn’t feel confident without key players playing. 

“It’s kind of hard to keep up when you’re missing 18 players,” Barnard said. “It’s hard to know that your teammate has your back.” 

One positive for the Falcons was a 15-yard touchdown for Barnard toward the end of the first quarter. The touchdown cut the lead down to 14-7 and could have given the Falcons some momentum. 

Despite finding personal success, however, Barnard said his morale was down for most of the team. 

“We've got to have more energy,” Barnard said. “There’s too many plays where we put our heads down when something goes wrong.” 

The game grew out of hand quickly after Barnard’s touchdown. Four first-half touchdowns by Knights’ running back Sam Webb grew the deficit to 49-7 for the Falcons with just under a minute left in the second quarter. From there, the score held until the end of the game.

After starting 2-0 on the year, team leaders like Boersma said they’re trying to change the culture in the locker room that has been affecting the team “the whole season.” 

“Most importantly, setting an example for the guys to follow the leaders and get everybody going,” Boersma said. 

Similarly, Barnard said he believes changes to the team’s mentality need to come from the upperclassmen to “show the ropes” to the underclassmen. 

Next, the Falcons will travel to Blue Ridge High School. The Yellowjackets are 6-0 and coming off of a 35-0 win against Safford. Safford played at Fountain Hills in the 2023-2024 season and won 48-21. The Falcons should want a different result this time around, and for that to happen, there needs to be drastic changes. 

Barnard said he believes with a few key changes next week can look different for the Falcons. 

“Once we get our guys back, we should be (good),” Barnard said. We just have to play with energy and physicality.”