It isn’t easy to be a back-up, whatever the sport.

Just ask junior Kyle Hoch, the Falcons’ back-up quarterback who took the reins Friday against Sultan.

On the first play, Hoch threw to Parker Barnett for 25 yards and life seemed good.

But on the second snap of South Whidbey’s drive, the Turks recovered a fumble and raced 60 yards to the end zone for their first score.

The first of many, unfortunately.

Sultan racked up 55 points to the Falcons seven, the final score coming on a late-fourth-quarter effort from Rob Knight.

“It seemed that once a few things went bad, it all just snowballed,” Hoch said. “I hadn’t been nervous all week; I think I started thinking too much about how to make things right. Turnovers killed us and it didn’t help that their defense was big, fast and physical,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Coach Mark Hodson decided to give injured quarterback Danny Parra extra time to get well from a sprained knee.

“Danny was cleared to play,” Hodson said. “I felt he needed more time.”

The coach freely conceded the obvious – when you turn over the ball repeatedly, there isn’t much you can do. The Falcons gave up the ball 12 times including three interceptions.

South Whidbey managed to keep the Turks at bay for the rest of the quarter, but on the first drive of the second, they broke away and suddenly it was 0-14 and the Falcons were forced into catch-up mode.

They tried, they really did.

The Falcons’ Levi Sawyers made a spectacular interception and brought the ball to the Turk 30-yard line.

Hope on the sidelines was dashed two plays later, however, when Hoch fumbled and the Turks cashed in. Sultan’s Beaux Champeau handed off to senior fullback Josh Mann, the conversion worked and the score was 22-0.

With 5:20 left in the first half Champeau threw a perfect pass to Jesse Nichols in the end zone and scored again.

At the break, it was 28-0.

“Kyle took every snap in practice and made some good decisions; he connected five times with receivers,” Hodson said. “Rob ended the night averaging five yards a carry plus our only TD, and Boenish had seven. The guys engineered some long, sustained drives and only punted twice.

“But turnovers were the key to this game,” Hodson said. “We put the ball on the ground too many times. All the stars were aligned for Sultan.”

Later, Hoch said he tried hard to get a rhythm going.

“I guess the thing I learned the most was the need to prepare myself better,” he said. “Friday was my first real varsity snap and I wasn’t ready for the reality of football at this level. The line was outstanding; I have no one to blame but myself.

“We need to find a way to overcome adversity when some of us get down,” he added.

On defense, safety Levi Sawyers recovered a fumble and picked up his first interception of the year. Leading tacklers on the night were Nick Tenuta and James Jones with five each.

While Archbishop Murphy has clinched a 2A District 1 playoff berth, the Falcons have reached the point of critical mass — they are 2-3 in the Cascade Conference and tied for fourth place with Coupeville, Kings, Sultan and Cedarcrest, with the Red Wolves coming to visit at 7 p.m. Friday for homecoming.

“It’s a must-win situation for us,” the coach said. “The kids are excited — the homecoming game is always big — and Danny will be our quarterback.”

Parra is ready.

“Man, being on the sidelines is the worst feeling in the world for me,” Parra said. “For playoffs and homecoming, the Cedarcrest game is one we have to win.”

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or sports@southwhidbeyrecord.com.