For a game that started great for South Whidbey football, it ended in equally measured disappointment for the seniors, who fell 48-13 in their final home game at Waterman Field.

South Whidbey opened its Cascade Conference finale against Cedarcrest with a sack and fumble recovery, followed by a quick score.

Playing in a game of little consequence — South Whidbey already secured its 1A District 1 playoff game by beating Coupeville on Oct. 18 — the Falcons played without senior quarterback Nick French, senior receiver Nick Bennett and senior linebacker Jose Chavez. Parker Collins came in as the backup and threw the first score of the game to senior receiver Kale Reichersamer, a 13-yard strike after the sack by senior Beck Davis and fumble recovery by Nate Hanson. The extra point kick was fumbled, giving South Whidbey a 6-0 lead with 10:52 left in the first quarter.

Then, as quickly as the Falcons led, they watched the Red Wolves tear apart their defense for three straight touchdowns in the first quarter.

False starts killed South Whidbey’s offense early, including one drive that yielded four such penalties.

South Whidbey’s other touchdown came on a short toss by Collins to Reichersamer, who turned the quick catch into a massive gain of 55 yards and a touchdown. Falcon senior Cooper Nichols booted in the extra point kick to trail 20-13. That was the closest the Falcons came to the lead the rest of the night.

Cedarcrest continued to hammer South Whidbey’s defense with a run-heavy offense led by Red Wolves running back Colson Scott with four scores. Red Wolves junior quarterback Adam Davenport threw infrequently, but effectively as two of his passes were for 25-yard and 39-yard touchdowns, each time to a wide-open Jeffrey Hepner.

South Whidbey played a half-and-half playoff game Tuesday, after The Record went to press. South Whidbey had to play two quarters against Lynden Christian, the winner of which would play Meridian after a short break. The Falcons have to win both halves, against Lynden Christian, last year’s 1A state champion, and Meridian, to advance to the tri-district tournament.

King’s and Blaine secured District 1’s first and second seeds, respectively, in the tri-district tournament.