Falcons Battle Back To .500 Late In Season

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In the past, Severna Park’s football team might have taken a shellacking from rival Broadneck, the team’s fourth loss in a row, and decided to just play out the string the rest of the way.

Not in 2024.

Despite a demoralizing 49-7 defeat to the Bruins that dropped them to 1-4 on the year, the Falcons instead flipped the script, winning three straight to close the month and get back to .500 on the season with one week left before the playoffs.

Behind a renewed commitment to running the football and a suddenly stingy defense, the Falcons posted successive shutouts over Northeast (24-0) and Severn Run (35-0) before outlasting Crofton in a 41-28 barnburner on senior night.

The telltale sign that something was different with the Falcons came in the win over Severn Run. Severna Park was expected to blow away the winless Wolves with their vaunted passing attack, but it didn’t happen. In fact, quarterback Vince Nguyen had just 21 passing yards at halftime, and leading receiver Cole Cavanaugh was held without a catch altogether.

In fact, the Falcons’ 7-0 lead came courtesy of a punt return touchdown from Tyler Lawhorne, who also made an interception in the end zone to deny Severn Run a score of their own.

“Those kinds of games are going to happen sometimes, and Severn Run had a great game plan for dealing with our offense,” said Severna Park coach Nick Marks. “We needed to spark something in the second half, so we made some changes, and the guys did a nice job. Our defense was outstanding tonight and really helped keep us in the game.”

The offense’s struggles led Marks to turn to junior quarterback Isaac Graves, who ran for a touchdown and threw for another, and sophomore running back Lucas Zyvloski, who was called up to the varsity squad earlier in the month.

Originally set up to spell starter Chase Griner, Zyvoloski showed a mix of patience, vision and burst the Falcons sorely needed. He took over as the primary runner in the second half and had three 20-plus-yard runs on his way to a 140-yard rushing effort.

“I really didn’t think I was going to get another carry after the first quarter, but I just tried to run where my blockers were going,” Zyvoloski said. “They made some great holes for me and gave me a lot of room. I couldn’t have done that without the O-line.”

With his effort, Zyvoloski became the first 100-yard rusher in Marks’ tenure as Falcons head coach. The Falcons racked up 171 rushing yards, 143 of them coming in the second half. Graves connected with Dash Havens for a 12-yard touchdown pass, while Joey Viskocil wrapped up the scoring with a 17-yard run to trigger the rolling clock midway through the fourth quarter.

The turnovers from Lawhorne in the first half and Nolan Cogan, Mason Keegan and Landon Williams in the second provided the Falcons with plenty of breathing room to sort out the offense that was largely stymied.

“We got a lot of confidence from shutting out Northeast, and we really want to keep that ‘donut’ (on the scoreboard),” Lawhorne said.

The Falcons close the regular season with a November 1 trip to Glen Burnie. Victory would not only ensure a final record of .500 or better, but it could also potentially earn the Falcons a home playoff game.

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