Determined not to let the game be a repeat of last season, the South Whidbey High School football team thumped visiting Concrete 48-21 Friday, Sept. 27.

It took some last-second heroics for the Falcons to defeat the Lions 14-13 in 2018. The takeaway, according to South Whidbey coach Mark Hodson, was that Concrete was the more physical team. The Falcons vowed not to let the Lions beat them up this fall.

That goal was met as South Whidbey lit up the Lions.

On offense, the Falcons piled up a whopping 589 yards on the ground.

As a defensive unit, South Whidbey “played great,” according to Hodson, and the line (Lewis Mattson, Kole Nelson, Kieran Birchfield, Tasman Dussault and Jakob Snelling) was “really, really good.”

The Falcons wasted little time taking control, scoring three touchdowns in the first quarter. Carl Henri Chapman raced in from 20 yards out to get things started. Billy Rankin followed with a 70-yard scoring run on a reverse, and Nelson then kicked his first of six straight extra points to make it 13-0. Bodie Hezel capped the first quarter with a 25-yard TD run.

The Lions tallied first in the second period, then Chapman countered with a 65-yard run. After Concrete picked up their second touchdown, Hezel responded with a 20-yard TD. Chapman scored again, this time from the 35, as the clock ran out in the first half.

Aidan Coleman finished the South Whidbey scoring with a 15-yard run midway through the third period.

Three Falcons rushed for more than 100 yards, led by Hezel with 206 on 19 carries. Chapman added 152 on eight runs, and Rankin had 107 on only three rushes.

On defense, Hezel, Rankin and Chapman also had interceptions; Rankin’s could have possibly been a 100-yard pick-six but was stopped by an inadvertent whistle, Hodson said.

The Falcons had a good week of practice leading up to the victory, Hodson said, and the result was a “good win for the team, a good win for the crowd.”

The Falcons finished the non-league portion of the season with a 3-1 record, tied with Cedar Park Christian as the best mark among North Sound Conference teams.

League play begins this week, and South Whidbey hosts Sultan (1-3) at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4.