Flatonia Blasts the Beavers in First Game on New Turf
The Flatonia football team broke in their new turf field in impressive fashion, downing Falls City 34-7 Friday as the Bulldogs improved to 3-0 this season.
Flatonia’s Keyshaun Green didn’t waste any time setting the tone on homecoming night. On the first play from scrimmage, he bolted down the new turf field on a quarterback run en route to a 45-yard touchdown, which put the Flatonia Bulldogs ahead of the Falls City Beavers 7-0 to start the game. A facemask penalty by Falls City on the opening kickoff put the Bulldogs in great field position for their first score. Flatonia followed that up on the next possession with a strong defensive stand, forcing a Beavers three and out.
With about five and a half minutes left in the first quarter, Falls City threatened to score by a long rush to the Bulldogs 14- yard line. They decided to go for it on 4th and 5 unsuccessfully.
“Our defense has been playing well all year.” said Flatonia head football coach Chris Freytag. “We’re undersized. That’s not anything that nobody doesn’t know. But our kids fly around the football. They play the game with a lot of heart and emotion. They tackle well and they cause turnovers. Really proud of that group tonight. The defense was lights out once again.”
At the 9:36 mark of the second quarter, the Bulldogs fumbled, which was recovered by Falls City.
The Flatonia defense didn’t let up and the Beavers decided to punt on 4th down. Shortly after, Green launched a 60-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide-receiver Reese Ramirez to go up 14-0.
Towards the end of the half was when the Beavers were able to get some real offense going. An unsportsmanlike penalty on Flatonia helped an efficient drive by Falls City and put them on the Bulldogs 12-yard line with a first down. A quarterback keeper resulted in a five-yard touchdown and a Flatonia lead that was cut to 14-7 at halftime.
A quiet 3rd quarter from both teams led to a 20-yard touchdown pass from Green to sophomore receiver Fidel Venegas at the 9:30 mark in the fourth, propelling the Bulldogs ahead 20-7. Venegas wasn’t finished, though. He caught a 35-yard pass from Green, which put Flatonia at the Beavers 8-yard line and was followed by an option pitch-play to junior tight-end Aiden Gonzales for a touchdown. Flatonia completed a two-point conversion attempt to take a 27-7 lead with 6:23 left in the contest. With just over a minute to go, Venegas capped off an impressive night with a pick six interception to put icing on the cake for a 34-7 victory.
“I just wanted to come out and not lose our first home game,” said Venegas. “I wanted to give the fans a good game to watch.”
Flatonia looks to stay undefeated on the turf next Friday against district opponent Schulenburg.
Flatonia 34, Falls City 7
Scoring summary
1ST QUARTER
FLATONIA - 11:53, Keyshaun Green 45 run (Joaquin Vazquez kick)
2ND QUARTER
FLATONIA - 6:42, Reese Ramirez 60 yard pass from Green (Vazquez kick)
FALLS CITY – :30, Luke Saffer 5 run (Shaffer kick)
4TH QUARTER
FLATONIA - 9:29, Fidel Venegas 18 pass from Green (kick failed)
FLATONIA - 6:23, Aiden Gonzales 4 run (Vazquez kick)
FLATONIA - 1:18, Venegas 25 yard interception return (Vazquez kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing – Flatonia: Green 9-59, Chris Johnston 12-57, Ricardo Olivares 2-24, Aiden Gonzales 6-16, Izick Hernandez 2-10, Dayton Cliffe 2-3, Jaidyn Guyton 1-(-1). Falls City: Shaffer 16-103.
Passing – Flatonia: Green 7 of 10 for 153 yards with 2 TDs. Falls City: Shaffer 2 of 13 for 23 yards with 1 INT.
Receiving – Flatonia: Reese Ramirez 2-67, Fidel Venegas 2-54, Aiden Gonzales 1-29, Jaidyn Guyton 1-4, Alex Hernandez 1(-1).