Sutton boosts Falcons past Mariners

Hales Corners - After a somewhat slow start, the Whitnall football team eventually took care of business against visiting St. Francis Friday at Falcon Field.

Thanks in large part to the second-quarter performance of senior quarterback Zach Sutton, the Falcons came away with a 43-15 victory to improve to 3-1 on the season.

The contest was scoreless after one quarter but the Falcons exploded for 22 points in the second period and 15 more in the third to take complete control of the winless Mariners.

With his team leading 8-0 early in the second quarter, Sutton found the proverbial 'zone.'

After completing just one of his first five pass attempts through the first 16 minutes of the game, Sutton completed eight of his next nine for 136 yards and two touchdowns.

QB heats up

The first touchdown was a 23-yard strike to senior Nick Cimler with 5:24 left in the second quarter, and the second was a 26-yard pass to senior tight end Patrick Wyrowski at the 2:22 mark of the quarter.

"We were just getting our momentum going and we just kept going," Sutton said.

Jordan Jones also caught a 32-yard touchdown pass and Dan Lak, who ran for 100 yards in the game, tallied from 15 yards away to round out the Falcons' scoring.

On the game's first drive, St. Francis began with the ball on its own 36-yard line and marched deep into Whitnall territory before fumbling on the 1-yard line.

"We got it back again a little later, but we fumbled the ball on the 1-yard line, and that takes the air out of the sails," St. Francis head coach Doug Sarver said.

The Mariners began their second drive with great field position but failed to gain even one first down before turning the ball over on downs.

St. Francis senior running back Francisco Avila had 240 yards rushing and two touchdowns to provide a major bright spot for his team.

Looking to improve tackling

The first score was a 74-yard dash at the 4:49 mark of the second quarter, and the second rushing touchdown was a 2-yard run in the fourth quarter, which was set up by his own 61-yard run.

The Falcons had issues tackling at times, especially on Avila.

"Football is a funny game because last week against a more physical Greenfield team, we held them to 104 yards rushing on 47 carries," Whitnall head coach Jeff Wallack said. "In the first half, St. Francis rushes for 177 yards on 27 carries, so we apparently need to learn how to tackle better. But give credit to St. Francis, they ran the ball hard."

The Falcons visit South Milwaukee at 7 p.m. Friday. Behind 181 yards passing from Justin Oliden, the Rockets improved to 2-2 with a 28-27 win over Brown Deer last week.