Falcons' ground game flocks J-Hawks, 43-24

PARKERSBURG – Aidan Junker loves running the Wing-T offense.

“Pounding the ball down opponents’ throats, tiring them down,” Junker said. “It just gives us a really good chance to win.”

When it comes to the Aplington-Parkersburg football community, he’s probably not alone in his admiration for the “four yards at a time” winning mentality immortalized in the pages of Sports Illustrated.

On Friday night, Falcon faithful returning to Ed Thomas Field for homecoming got more nostalgia than they expected watching A-P execute the old-fashioned offense in a 43-24 Falcon romp over the J-Hawks.

Keep reading the article below thanks to this local Aplington-Parkersburg supporter!

A-P improves to 2-1 and open district play at Denver (3-0) on Friday.

The final tally was 411 yards of offense - 314 on the ground - led by Junker’s 15 totes for 112 yards and a long touchdown run in the second half. Adam Schipper added three carries for 104 yards and a touchdown, Garrett Hempen had eight carries for 85 yards and Sam Livingood scored two touchdowns on eight carries for 31 yards.

“We had a good surge from our offensive line,” Junker said. “We might not break off a big run all the time, but five, six yards per carry, that’s pretty good.”

A-P head coach Alex Pollock, a Falcon alum himself, knows what these kinds of performances, coupled with last week’s win at Osage, mean to the community.

“I had a couple comments from guys before the end of the game, that it reminds them of the A-P of old,” Pollock said, pausing to fight a lump in his throat. “As someone that played here, that’s special. And I’m really happy for the kids.”

The Falcons weren’t just an attraction on offense. A double-tough defense allowed just minus-17 rushing yards to Jesup (2-1) through the first three quarters.

“Our effort on defense was just phenomenal, we're getting low and working on being more physical than our opponents,” said Schipper, a junior. “This gives us a lot of confidence, we’ve been working hard offseason, all our practices, and this just shows that it’s worth it. And if we keep working, who knows what we can do.”

On A-P’s first possession, a high snap on a punt attempt led to Jesup taking over at A-P’s 14-yard line. The Falcons moved the J-Hawks back and stopped them on fourth-and-long from the A-P 26.

A-P’s first play of the second drive was a 28-yard run for Schipper, the start of a 11-play scoring drive capped off by a Gavin Thomas QB sneak and a 6-0 lead with 3:56 left in the first.

Jesup punted again on its next possession and a 46-yard Hempen run got the Falcons in business, with Livingood eventually diving in for the score and the 14-0 lead after Thomas’ pass to Jack Eddy for two.

The J-Hawks responded with a Brevin Dahl to Corbin Fuelling touchdown pass, followed by recovering a fumble on A-P’s ensuing kickoff return and another Dahl-Fuelling connection for a two-point game with four minutes left to halftime.

Schipper scored a 19-yard touchdown run with under two minutes to go to halftime in a drive sparked by Thomas’ 53-yard pass play to Eddy. The score was the first of 29 unanswered points by the Falcons.

"As the game went on, the holes kept getting bigger and bigger for our backs,” Pollock said. “Our offensive line re-established the line of scrimmage and we got a really good push. And we challenged those guys at halftime - they were good in the second but we knew they could be better - and they came out and were really good.

“We were the more physical team tonight for the second week in a row, and it’s a good feeling.”

Kaden Huttinger hauled in a 25-yard touchdown pass from Gavin Thomas at the start of the fourth quarter to make it 43-12 A-P after Luke Shepard’s PAT with 10:34 showing on the scoreboard.

From there, Jesup scored some ultimately fruitless touchdowns on backups and players saving some energy to enjoy the party after the game - a rowdy A-P student section rushing the field to celebrate with the Falcons, a spirited post-game speech from Coach Pollock, and performing the school fight song for the A-P community.

“They’ve seen the success this program has had in the past, and they want to be part of that, they’re willing to learn,” Pollock said. “They say every day, they want to be different. So you have to do things differently, and they’ve taken that to heart.”

Junker feels like these two wins give the Falcons a lot of momentum. But how can they keep that momentum?

“Just keep running the football down people’s mouths,” Junker said.

A-P 43

Jesup 24

First quarter

A-P-Gavin Thomas 1 run (PAT failed)

Second quarter

A-P-Sam Livingood 1 run (Jack Eddy pass from Thomas)

Jesup-Corbin Fuelling 29 pass from Brevin Dahl (PAT missed)

Jesup-Fuelling 2 pass from Dahl (pass failed)

A-P-Adam Schipper 19 run (Luke Shepard kick)

Third quarter

A-P-Aidan Junker 41 run (Thomas run)

A-P-Livingood 1 run (Shepard kick)

Fourth quarter

A-P-Kaden Huttinger 25 pass from Thomas (Shepard kick)

Jesup-Dahl 12 run (pass failed)

Jesup-Noah Sheridan 73 run (kick missed)

A-P individual stats

Rushing-Aidan Junker 15-112; Adam Schipper 3-104; Garrett Hempen 8-85; Sam Livingood 8-32; Devin Bernard 3-6; Gabe Mostek 2-3; Kael Stotler 1-2; Gavin Thomas 4-(-7), Team 2-(-22).

Passing-Thomas 6-6-0, 97 yards, TD.

Receiving-Jack Eddy 1-53; Kaden Huttinger 2-28; Junker 2-10; Livingood 1-6.