LANGLEY — Sometimes, you just have to play the hand you’re dealt.

With starter Hunter Rawls out with a broken wrist, South Whidbey football coach Mark Hodson gave sophomore quarterback TJ Russell his first varsity start at the position Friday night.

Against the number-two team in the state, Archbishop Murphy, Russell and the Falcons did all they could in a 42-8 championship loss.

“For what we asked him to do, TJ did a pretty decent job and we’re all proud of him,” Hodson said. “He made some good plays and took some serious hits.”

South Whidbey is 6-2 with one regular-season game remaining while AMHS remains undefeated at the the top of the Cascade Conference. The Falcons are in a three-way tie for second place with Cedarcrest and Granite Falls.

The Wildcats struck first with 10 minutes left in the first quarter following a Russell interception, and a quick 12-yard run by Murphy running back Alex Martinez; he and tailback Kelso Wilkins broke free early and often, though the Falcon defense did their best to contain them.

“Trapper Rawls, Dillon Parrick and Chandler Thompson worked hard putting the stop to the Wildcats all night,” said Falcon defensive coordinator Damian Greene.

But the Wildcats scored three more times, and the tally stood at 28-0 with 2:51 left in the first half. Falcon Nick Tenuta caught a pass for 25 yards, and finally Russell found his man, throwing a 45-yard barn-burner to Luke Hodson just before the half ended.

“It was a basic slant play. I threw it where I thought Luke would be; he broke a couple tackles and made the touchdown,” Russell said. “Luke made me look good.”

Hodson wanted Russell to go for the two-point conversion, but things quickly went south for the 5-foot-4, 154-pound quarterback.

“Their coverage was good and when I rolled left there was no one open, so I ran left and dove across with an inch to spare,” Russell said.

With the score 28-8, both teams took a well-earned break.

From the start of the third quarter, the Wildcat defense toughened up and prevented the Falcons from making any more serious inroads, while scoring two more times in the third for the 42-8 final.

Murphy’s players are big, well-conditioned, well-coached and know how to execute plays with precision and determination.

Especially the Wildcat’s 6-foot-2, 230-pound outside linebacker, JJ Quinlan, who maintained heavy pressure on Russell all night.

“He was always right behind me,” Russell recalled. “Our guys did the best they could, but they ran a series of blitz packages in my direction at regular intervals.”

Russell said that he was nervous all week as coaches installed new plays to meet Murphy’s expected attacks. He admitted his size was a hindrance, forcing him to roll left or right to find his receivers.

Hodson agreed.

“We need to get him deeper in the shotgun so he has some breathing room,” Hodson said. “We’ll be talking about that this week.”

When last year’s season was destroyed by an in-house bureaucratic screw-up, the Wildcats were determined to resurrect their gridiron primacy. More than 250 fans made the trip Friday night to cheer their team. They hired former Oak Harbor head coach Dave Ward — who took his big 4A squad to the state championship two years ago — and have intentions of a state title.

Ward was relaxed on the sidelines late in the fourth quarter.

“It was a fairly clean game on both sides,” Ward noted. “Despite some early turnovers, we were able to focus and play our game; I was especially proud of JJ Quinlan’s pressure on the quarterback, who I thought did a good job for a sophomore.”

Russell threw seven passes for 129 yards; rushing yardage totaled 106, most in the first half before running back Henry Mead was sidelined with an injury.

For the defense, Rawls had eight tackles and two assists, one for a loss. Parrick had seven tackles, four for a loss. Chandler Thompson and Jon Poolman had six tackles each.

Nick Tenuta and David Monell had quarterback sacks, while Danny Zuver and Hodson each recovered a fumble on the night.

At 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31 the Falcons (6-2) travel to Coupeville (0-6) for the regular season finale.

For the season, the Falcons have beaten Cedarcrest, who beat Granite Falls, who beat South Whidbey last week; all three teams lost to Archbishop Murphy.

The Falcons might play what’s called a Kansas City tie-breaker at high noon Saturday, Nov. 1 against Cedarcrest and Granite Falls, in Granite Falls, or at the home of the Kings Knights in north Seattle.

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