Laramie – Junior quarterback Shaun Carney is probably a good math student at the Air Force Academy.
When it became decision time in the fourth quarter Saturday at War Memorial Stadium, with the Falcons facing a fourth-and-2 situation at Wyoming’s 10-yard line, there wasn’t any hesitation on Carney’s part.
The Falcons were nursing a 28-21 lead with just five minutes left in their Mountain West Conference opener and Carney simply said, “Kick.”
“There’s something about being smart and playing football, too,” Carney said. “That was smart football. Even if it had been fourth-and-inches, I would kick the field goal with a seven-point lead.”
With Carney, halfback Chad Hall and fullbacks Ryan Williams and Jacobe Kendrick doing the heavy work, the Falcons drove 70 yards on 17 plays for the precious field goal, a 27-yarder from kicker Zach Sasser. The only pass on the key drive was Carney’s 10-yard completion to Vic Thompson.
Hall finished with 20 carries for 122 yards. He scored the game’s first touchdown on a 27-yard run.
“I owe it to the big guys up front and the blocking by our halfbacks,” Hall said. “I was just running behind them. One thing Coach (Jemal) Singleton taught us early on was that you don’t do one thing and stop. We don’t stop at the first hit.
“We were the tougher team today. We showed it defensively and offensively. We had to show it because they are all about toughness.”
Hall said it was obvious the Falcons were playing a team that had seen the triple option before. When the Falcons totaled 408 yards in a 31-30 loss at Tennessee to open their season, it was obvious the Volunteers hadn’t played against an option offense much.
Falcons finally home
Air Force (1-1) has played only two games in the first four weeks of the season and still hasn’t played at Falcon Stadium.
But now home-field advantage comes into play, with consecutive games at home against New Mexico, Navy and Colorado State.
“I did remind my football team that we’re right where we were last season,” AFA coach Fisher DeBerry said. “We won our first conference game and then lost three in a row. But we’re coming home for the first time in a long time. We’re getting a chance to play at home and it’s almost basketball season.”
DeBerry said the crowd at Falcon Stadium next weekend will see a good team.
“My team has played two pretty good football teams and has played two pretty good games,” DeBerry said.
