It was a day to remember for the August Martin Falcons Football team, as they played locked down defense while their offense did enough to knock off host Columbus, 16-0, Saturday afternoon.

The victory helped August Martin cap a league undefeated season and make the playoffs for the first time during Head Coach Kyle Allen's era, which started in 2018.

Allen gave a ton of credit to his ever-improving defense for blanking a team that has scored 38 or more points in its last four tilts. He chalked it up to the Falcon coaching staff's tireless devising efforts during practice this past week.

August Martin receiver checks with official to see if they are on-sides before snap.

"Our defense was lights out today, lights out," Allen emphasized. "This team we played (today) is a very well-coached team, they play real hard, and score a lot of points. And we shut them out. So, that says a lot about our preparations. We prepared our kids to recognize formations, recognize tendencies, and we ran to the ball."

The 7-0 Falcons, ranked 15th, will face NO. 2 Fredrick Douglas Academy (FDA) in the first round of the PSAL Cup Conference next weekend, according to a source.

After the Falcons failed to covert on fourth and four, a few plays later, the Blue Steel (6-1) fumbled and senior Nicholas Fonseca recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Sophomore running back Giovanni Faulkner cashed in the ensuing two-point run for an 8-0 lead with 4:42 remaining in the first quarter.

Faulkner, who paced August Martin's ground game with 33 yards on eight touches, scored on a two-yard run to increase its advantage to 14-0 with 6:15 left in the first half.

Next, senior Angel John sacked the Columbus quarterback in the end zone for a safety and 16-0 lead late in the second period.

The aggressive Falcon defense pressured Jair Rafah Perez and other Blue Steel quarterbacks all game long while registering six sacks and several QB hits and hurried passes.

The senior twin tandem of Truwayne and Truwen Powell picked up a sack apiece and made six and five tackles, respectively. Senior Isaiah Allen recorded two sacks and made five stops, three of which went for losses, and senior Kirmal Joseph had a sack and two tackles.

Senior Ismael Acosta-Ramos made three tackles and ripped the ball out a Blue Steel receiver's hands for an impressive interception. Offensively, he grabbed five receptions for 75 yards.

Allen, one of the top receiver's in the PSAL, had four catches for 52 yards. Senior signal caller Christopher Davis completed nine of 14 passes for 127 yards while senior Judeley Francois had a punt return for 27 yards and collected three tackles.

Though August Martin is rated No. 15 headed into the playoffs, Allen believes his team is better than that, and noted that the program will work extremely hard to prepare for gridiron battle in the first round next weekend,

"It feels great, but we got unfinished business," he said. "So, we're going to enjoy this today. This isn't the end all, tell all. I want more. We came out to get more, we want more. Whoever we got next week, we'll be ready for them. We're going to prepare, and we'll be ready."

Due to when players are taking the SAT next weekend, teams will either play Saturday or Sunday, Allen said

-- Jerry Del Priore

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