By Chris Parker, junior

The Friends football team missed out on the playoffs and failed to win its fourth straight conference title after it lost to Ottawa University 49-42 at home. The Falcons dug a hole early because of turnovers and some big plays by the Ottawa Braves' offense.

“Murphy’s Law was taking dead aim at us,” head coach Monty Lewis said. “If it could go wrong, it did.”

Only 12 seconds into the game, Falcon quarterback Tim Rozzell lost the ball to Ottawa and the Braves took it for a touchdown. Ottawa would tack on four passing touchdowns and one more interception to go up 42-0 after only 17 minutes of the game.

The Falcons could have folded, but Lewis knew his team was not going out quietly.

“I just knew it wasn’t going to go that way all day,” Lewis said. “We just had too much pride and a champion’s heart.”

Friends began to rally and scored two touchdowns and went into halftime down 42-14. Despite the big deficit the Falcons continued battling after the half.

Ottawa scored on its first possession out of the half, but that is all it got. In the end the Braves had key first downs in the fourth quarter to kill the clock. The Falcons' Mike Hyde helped make it interesting with an acrobatic touchdown catch late in the fourth, but the Falcons were unable to recover and Ottawa ran out the clock.

Friends lost 49-42, but Lewis was proud of the way the Falcons fought back.

“I have walked out of stadiums after a win and felt worse,” Lewis said. “Our offensive line stepped up and played well. Mike Hyde played a big role. The only thing missing was the win.”

Hyde had 13 catches for 173 yards and a touchdown. Rozzell completed 30 of 51 passes for 345 yards, three touchdowns, three interceptions and a fumble. On the defensive side of the ball, Blake Gordon had seven solo tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.

The Friends defense held the Braves to minus eight yards rushing on the day.

In the end, the early turnovers and quick strikes by Ottawa were too much to overcome.

“Take away our turnovers and we win our fourth straight title,” Lewis said.

The loss not only snapped the Falcons conference championship streak, but it also snapped a 17-game home winning streak against conference opponents.

Now the football team will regroup for next season. Five starters graduate from this season’s team, and they will be missed. Graduates on defensive are Jordan Highley, Quinn Cunningham and Michael Batts, who were All-Conference performers. Offense players Ryley Greenbaum and Drew Johnston will also graduate.

Next season will be a clean slate after not winning the conference title for the first time in four years and not having a home conference winning streak. Friends finishes 8-2 on the year, and Lewis said for the Falcons it is unacceptable.

“We just went 8-2 and it is not good enough,” Lewis said. “Expectations have been set, and the players have set them.”