In fact, had a couple of big plays gone in their favor, the Falcons may have found themselves in a dogfight with the best team in the league on Saturday.

Instead, the home team was the one that got the breaks and once East Catholic/Cheney Tech is ahead, it is very difficult to catch.

The Eagles took advantage of some early Falcons mistakes and a controversial call to build a lead, then ran away for a 48-8 victory at Mount Nebo Field.

SPGT received the first break of the afternoon after the Falcons drove deep into Eagles’ territory behind the passing of quarterback Robert Swanke. Swanke found Luis Rodriguez for a 23-yard gain, and the Falcons found themselves on the verge of opening the scoring. Swanke was then intercepted by Dahna Deleston, but Deleston fumbled, giving SPGT a first down on the Eagles’ 12. On third down, Swanke rolled right and fired over the middle for an apparent touchdown, but was ruled to be over the line of scrimmage when he passed, resulting in a penalty.

The Falcons ran a reverse on the resulting fourth down that was snuffed out by the defense. The Eagles then marched 76 yards on eight plays on the ensuing drive, capped by a 44-yard touchdown pass from Dan Belli to Bryan Williston over the right side to give East Catholic/Cheney Tech the lead.

"It’s unfortunate that the call went against us," Falcons coach Joe Cefaratti said. "We’re inexperienced and it showed. The kids hung in there the best they could. I think we have four games left that we’re going to be competitive in. We’re going to come to play, and we’re going to hit you."

Going on from there was exactly what the Eagles did after their first score. The Falcons went three and out on their next possession, and punted away. Williston then struck again, returning the punt 60 yards for a score. Joe Hartigan ran in the two-point conversion and East Catholic/Cheney Tech had a 15-0 lead with 33 seconds left in the first quarter.

Things didn’t get much better for the Falcons in the second quarter. Hartigan struck again with 5:38 left in the quarter for a four-yard score after the Eagles had gone 63 yards on six running plays. Williston made himself visible again on the next drive, intercepting a Swanke pass at midfield. The Eagles didn’t waste much time capitalizing, as Hartigan capped a 60-yard drive with a two-yard run, and the extra point made it 29-0 in favor of the Eagles.

The Falcons’ offensive highlight came late in the fourth when Swanke hit Kyle Abucewicz with a 66-yard pass up the left sideline with 5:33 left in the game. Swanke audibled at the line of scrimmage, sending his receiver deep down the sideline, and it paid off with a touchdown.

"They work it in practice and it showed," Ceratti said. "They have a good sync back and forth."

Belli ran a 10-yard keeper for a score early in the third quarter, Hartigan scored from 28 yards out after another interception to make it 42-0, and Belli’s 76-yard strike to Akwan Shabazz completed the scoring for the Eagles.