The Firestone Falcons captured their first victory of the season in defeating the Kenmore Cardinals 14-12 at Kenmore Stadium Saturday afternoon. 

The game could have been called the ‘turnover bowl’.  Both teams turned it over a total of nine times, five of those were committed by the Falcons. 

Firestone head coach Tim Flossie was glad his team cracked the win column.  “At the age of 62 any win is a good win.  We made a lot of dumb mistakes.  We were able to control the football in the second half and ran out the clock.”

But, the win wasn’t that easy. 

Kenmore took advantage of a Firestone fumble on their second series in the first quarter.  Linebacker Deon’tae Moore swatted the football out of Quarterback Nick Heimbaugh’s hands and pounced on the loose pigskin at the Falcon 29-yard line. 

In four plays, Kenmore found the end zone on a 14-yard run by sophomore running back Willie Johnson.  Ben Gulley missed the try for an extra point and the Cardinals had a 6-0 lead.

Firestone battled right back following the kickoff.  Heimbaugh completed three passes in the seven play drive.  He hit junior wide receiver Kevin Gladney with a 38-yard touchdown pass down the right sidelines to tie the game at 6.  Joshua Brebant’s try for the extra point was blocked by the Kenmore defense. 

Kenmore took over following the ensuing kickoff, the Cardinals turned the ball over as Stefan Willis picked off Kenmore quarterback DeSean Ballinger’s pass to the Cardinal 25 yard line. 

But, the Falcons couldn’t move the ball.  Brebant was called on to kick a 42-yard field goal.  Tavares Parmer picked up the ball and scampered 58 yards for a Kenmore touchdown.  The try for a two-point conversion was no good and Kenmore had a 12-6 lead just one-minute into the second quarter.

Each team had the ball three additional times in the second quarter, but couldn’t come up with any points.  The Cardinals held a six-point lead at half.

On their initial possession of the third quarter, Firestone got into the end zone for what proved to be the game winning score.  It was a 10-play, 50-yard drive, helped in large part by three Kenmore penalties.  The drive stayed alive thanks to a 13-yard hookup between Heimbaugh and Christian Morgan on a fourth-and-four.  Dontel Stone finished off the drive with a three-yard dash into the end zone. 

With the game tied at 12, Firestone lined up to kick the extra point.  The Falcons faked the try as the holder Brad Shields ran to the right and hit running back Edmund Williams in the corner of the end zone for two points giving Firestone a 14-12 lead.

Kenmore had a chance to re-take the lead in the fourth quarter.  Moore caused another fumble by Heimbaugh that was recovered by Kenmore’s Darnell Vickers at the Falcons 22-yard line. 

But, Kenmore couldn’t move the ball.  On a fourth-and-12 at the Falcons 24, Ballinger tried to hit Ben Gulley in the end zone.  Willis drifted over and picked the ball off and returned it to the Firestone four-yard line.

“I always try to read the quarterback’s eyes”, said Willis.  “When I see the ball in the air, it’s mine and I go and get it.”

“We made a couple of mistakes, a couple of balls that we should have caught.  Then, it would have been a different story,” said Kenmore head coach Ed Peltz. 

Firestone is 1-3 overall, 1-0 in the City Series.  Kenmore is 2-2 overall, 0-1 in the City Series.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

Firestone 6-0-8-0=14

Kenmore 6-6-0-0=12

FIRST QUARTER       :

K – Willie Johnson 14 yard run (Kick no good) 6:04

F – Kevin Gladney 38 yard pass from Nick Heimbaugh (Kick blocked) 2:01

SECOND QUARTER:

K – Tavares Parmer 58 yard return of a blocked field goal (Pass failed) 11:46

THIRD QUARTER:

F – Dontel Stone 3 yard run (Pass good Shields to Williams) 2:31

FOURTH QUARTER:

No Scoring