RUMFORD – Mountain Valley wasn’t quite sure what to expect out of the Falmouth offense Friday night.

Of course, the Yachtsmen weren’t sure what to expect either.

Mountain Valley struggled against one Falmouth possession in its Western B semifinal at Hosmer Field, but the Falcons quickly adjusted to the unexpected in a 41-6 victory.

“Coming into the week, we didn’t know that their quarterback wasn’t really playing this week,” said senior back Justin Staires. “We didn’t expect them to come out and do that kind of offense on us. We definitely played smart football after that one drive. We knew they were going to try to run the ball on us and do that option.”

The Falcons’ Stefano Mancini injured his hand against Greely and was questionable all week. It wasn’t learned until Thursday that he was definitely out of action. The Yachtsmen went with senior back Josh Mokarzel, who used the option well and had the Falcons struggling to stop him on one drive in the opening half. Mokarzel led Falmouth with 56 yards on 19 carries.

“We didn’t know all week whether he’d be returning,” said Falmouth coach John Fitzsimmons. “He did not practice. We worked with the other quarterbacks all week.”

Figuring out Falmouth’s offensive schemes was the lone hurdle for the Falcons. Mountain Valley was able to grind out 279 yards on the ground. Staires led the Falcons with three touchdowns and 97 yards on 17 carries. Matt Laubauskas had a touchdown and 72 yards on nine carries. Cam Kaubris had a pair of touchdown passes.

“The first half, we pounded and pounded,” said Kaubris. “Once in a while we were able to throw in a wrinkle with the pass. I was really happy to establish the run game because the run game helps out the pass.”

Despite a new look from the Falcons offense, Mountain Valley still forced three turnovers and turned a pair of them into touchdowns. The Yachtsmen were held to just 134 total yards, 18 in the second half.

“What you can’t do against them is make mistakes,” said Fitzsimmons. “We did that with an interception and a fumble. At 19-6, everybody’s feeling good. The half was going OK. That was a big momentum swing.”

On their first possession, the Falcons marched down field on 13 plays. Kaubris hooked up with Laubauskas on a 17-yard pass play with 5:40 left in the quarter. A Staires interception set up his first score, a three-yard run for a 13-0 with 3:16 left.

Falmouth answered with its only significant drive of the game, covering 78 yards. Mokarzel finished it with a pass to Chip Clement from the 8 for a 13-6 game with 6:55 left in the half.

Staires made it 19-6 with a 14-yard run, but turnovers by Falmouth added to the momentum. The Yachtsmen survived a fumble that the Falcons recovered, but Mountain Valley got the ball back in the final minute on a Taylor Bradley interception. Kaubris scrambled and hit Travis Ruff on a 24-yard pass with eight seconds left in the half.

“That was big,” said Kaubris. “That was relief. I had a couple bad passes before. I really wanted to redeem myself.”

The Falcons opened the second half with 55-yard drive. Staires finished it off with a 28-yard run. Then, in the fourth, Tom Puiia added a rush from the 4.

“We got up ahead and that (pass) really cemented our lead,” said Kaubris. “We got the ball right after halftime. That was huge also. We knew we were in the lead and we were going to come out and score again. That’s basically what we said.”