Falcons impressive in opener

Brown Deer — It was a late night, but a productive one in Watertown for the Brown Deer football team Friday, as the Falcons opened their 2010 season of high expectations with a sizzling, 53-6, rout of host Luther Prep.

"We got the running clock going (early in the second half) and it was just a good first game overall," said Falcons coach Rob Green. "We got a lot of different personnel packages in, which was good considering that our scrimmage the week before (at Random Lake) was cut short (by dangerous weather).

"There were people we wanted to see get minutes, and they did."

The Falcons (1-0) will now notch their home opener against South Milwaukee (1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday. It will be Brown Deer's parents' night.

The Rockets were 2009 WIAA playoff qualifiers and won 27-13 over New Berlin West in their opener. They also run a spread offense, led by quarterback Sam Oliden, who ran, passed or kicked for all of South Milwaukee's points.

"He's a talented kid," said Green of Oliden.

Brown Deer was a little more balanced in its effort against Luther Prep as the offense came up big behind returning All-Suburban running back Chris Smith (16 carries, 164 yards and two touchdowns) and quarterback Brett Youngbeck (two rushing TDs and scoring tosses to Sean Andryauskus and Tray Palmer).

The defense also gave up just the one first half TD (after the Falcons had bolted out to a 20-0 first quarter lead) and the special teams came up big, giving the offense short fields on most of its first half possessions.

"We were able to get on them quick in that first quarter with short fields," said Green. "The defense did it first with a fumble recovery and the special teams helped out big with their coverage work."

Brown Deer got first half TDs from Youngbeck (5-yard run), Andryauskus (20-yard pass from Youngbeck), Palmer (20-yard pass from Youngbeck), Smith (23 and 35-yard runs) and Najee Williams (13-yard run).

Youngbeck put the running clock in order with a 12-yard scamper in the third quarter and sophomore Jake Schimenz got on the board in the fourth quarter with a 12-yard run. Palmer was praised for his work on the evening.

"Our offensive line played very well and that was good because Luther Prep was giving us different looks," said Green, "and our defensive front eight was very disciplined. They stayed home and did their jobs."