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It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and the Air Force Falcons kept the holiday magic alive on Friday night as they took down the Washington State Cougars, 31-21. This is how it went down:
Jeremy Fejedelem put an end to the first Washington State drive with a goal-line 4th down tackle. The Falcons then proceeded to march down the field with a 98-yard touchdown drive that lasted over 12 minutes and put Donald Hammond in the end zone for the score.
Washington State marched right down the field on their second drive to tie the game 7-7 as Anthony Gordon found Dezmon Patmon on 4th and goal for the 2-yard score. The ensuing Falcons possession ate up seven more minutes off the clock and added 65 more yards on the ground before a Jake Koehnke field goal put Air Force up, 10-7.
An Anthony Gordon fumble on 1st and 10 gave Air Force the ball back quickly with great field position. The Falcons turned the fumble into a 4-play drive and a Taven Birdow touchdown. The fast-paced air raid of the Cougars responded with a Max Borghi touchdown that only took 55 seconds off the clock and took the teams into the locker room with Air Force ahead 17-14.
The third quarter picked right back up where the second left off: a six minute, 75-yard touchdown drive with a Hammond touchdown run. Both teams added touchdown drives to the scoreboard in the fourth, with Arconado scoring for Washington State and Remsburg punching in the score to put the game to bed. After all, the clock didn’t hit triple zeros until close to 2 A.M. Eastern.
On the defensive side of the ball, Garrett Kauppila led the way with six solo tackles. Grant Dolandson and Mo Fifita added tackles-for-loss, and Tre Bugg, Zane Lewis, and Christopher Herrera each had passes defended.
Check out these late-night highlights...
STOPPED @JeremyFejedelem gets in the backfield on 4th down to force a Washington State turnover on downs.#LetsFly⚡️ x #CheezItBowl pic.twitter.com/xRI8hivB1Y
— Air Force Football (@AF_Football) December 28, 2019
And @AF_Football is on the board!
— Cheez-It® Bowl (@CheezItBowl) December 28, 2019
A 12 minute, 98-yard drive ends with a touchdown by @dhamm_3. They lead 7-0 early in the 2nd quarter. #CheezItBowl pic.twitter.com/x059YJg64M
A look at how things started here at the #CheezItBowl. Catch the rest on @espn! pic.twitter.com/f0cuAxwn5Y
— Cheez-It® Bowl (@CheezItBowl) December 28, 2019
Another longggggggg drive results in points pic.twitter.com/dOp4psyZyz
— Air Force Football (@AF_Football) December 28, 2019
3Q: 24-14 @af_football leads it as we head into the 4th. Watch it on @espn! #CheezItBowl pic.twitter.com/UpzgI48NNB
— Cheez-It® Bowl (@CheezItBowl) December 28, 2019
Goodnight, Falcon Nation! ⚡️
— Air Force Football (@AF_Football) December 28, 2019
We’re coming home with a lot of new hardware pic.twitter.com/MUfqqBNB3B
What’s next? It’s offseason time. The Falcons are coming off of their best season in years and it’s time to soak in the wins. Air Force looks forward to opening the 2020 season at Purdue on September 19th. Also, Scott was wrong, the best flavor of Cheez It is the Extra Toasty flavor.