FALMOUTH – The time between last week’s loss to Wells and Friday night’s game against Falmouth seemed like an eternity for Mountain Valley football coach Jim Aylward.

That’s because losses fester – especially at Mountain Valley.

But not even the horizontal rain that fell during the first half Friday could slow down the rejuvenated Falcons, who ran over and through the Yachtsmen for a 26-0 win.

“You can’t wait to get back onto the field,” Aylward said. “We had a tough week. We lost a little confidence. Just to get back onto this field is a real joy for us. This is our work place. When things are going bad, all you want to do is to be able to go work and work harder. That’s what we did tonight.”

Mountain Valley’s hogs controlled the line of scrimmage to spring halfback Eric LePage for a 5-yard touchdown run during the Falcons’ first possession of the game. It went that way all night as the Falcons’ ball-control offense did whatever it needed against the Yachtsmen.

“This was our Super Bowl,” Aylward said. “We lose this game and go 1-2, I don’t know how long it will take to repair the (team’s) confidence.”

And in difficult playing conditions, the Falcons (2-1) did something on offense they failed to do in the first two games of the seasons – hold onto the football. With 16 turnovers through two weeks, according to Aylward, the Falcons coughed up the ball just once Friday and that was by the second-string offense with under a minute left in the game.

“That’s Falcons football playing in the rain,” LePage said. “We focussed real hard in practice about hanging onto the ball. We can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot. To come and not turn the ball over in these conditions is pretty impressive.”

LePage’s second touchdown of the game, which came on fourth down, staked the Falcons’ to a 12-0 lead late in the first quarter.

Mountain Valley took an 18-0 lead to the locker room at halftime thanks to a 3-yard run by sophomore halfback Aaron Arsenault. With the rain limiting each team’s passing game, LePage and Arsenault, who stands 5-foot-4, kept the Falcons in sync by gobbling up yards on sweeps to the outside and traps up the middle.

“He’s a little squirt,” LePage said of Arsenault. “But he’s tough to tackle. He’s real quick. As long as he holds onto the ball back there, he’s our man.”

Mountain Valley looked just as good on defense by keeping Falmouth, which played in the Developmental League last season, from picking up a first down in the first half.

After taking an 18-0 lead, Falcons defenders Travis Dragoon and Drew Parent recorded sacks on consecutive plays to keep the Yachtsmen (0-2) from gaining any momentum.

When Falmouth tried to throw in the second half, the Falcons adjusted to keep the Yachtsmen off the scoreboard.

Dragoon deflected a pass on a key third down with Falmouth just outside the Falcons’ 20-yard line. Chris Smith intercepted a pass for Mountain Valley later in the second half to squash another threat by Falmouth.

“That’s what you have to do in this kind of weather,” Falmouth coach Rick Towle said. “You have to grind it out, and that’s what they did.”

Falcons quarterback Zach Fergola hit Chris Lever on 43-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to post Mountain Valley to a 24-0 lead. The Falcons closed out the scoring when Ben Madigan tackled Falmouth punter Lucas Rand in the end zone for a safety late in the fourth.

“We have to stay fired up,” LePage said. “We came out flat last week. We thought we were the team to beat after we beat Leavitt (in Week 1). But we have to stay fired up and keep this rolling.”