PALMDALE — Palmdale’s Amour Gipson wanted to make sure first-year head coach Anthony Coleman’s first game at his alma mater was a memorable one.
The senior tailback rushed for 291 yards and scored four touchdowns to make Coleman a winner in his first game at the helm of the Falcons.
It took a while to get going for the Falcons with penalties and turnovers, but once they got rolling, they never looked back and the final score read: Palmdale 42, Burroughs (Ridgecrest) 6.
“Game number one in the books,” Coleman said. “But way too many turnovers. Our number one focus this week will be to clean those things up. We could have put up more points on the board, but we kept shooting ourselves in the foot.
“If it wasn’t turnovers, it was stupid penalties. I’m very happy, though, for my first win at my alma mater. There was a lot of build up to this game, but once 4 pm hit, it was good to go. I saw a lot of good things out there.”
Palmdale (1-0) could have put up many more points, but it had two touchdowns negated by penalties and turned the ball over six times, which kept the Burros at arm’s length, at least until Gipson said enough is enough.
Gipson scored on touchdown runs of nine, 63, 53 and 61 yards en route to a career-high in rushing yards. However, he left in the fourth quarter with an injured left elbow. His status for next week’s game against Oak Hills is unknown.
“I thought it was a very good game,” Gipson said. “I give credit to my offensive line. This was a good opening win for us. It feels really good. We’re off to a good start.”
Palmdale opened the scoring in the second quarter. After the Burros (0-2) were driving inside the 5-yard line, the Falcons’ Vertis Bayne snatched the ball from quarterback Talen Mather and returned it 86 yards to the 10-yard line. Two plays later, Gipson scored his first touchdown as he scampered nine yards for the score.
Leading 7-6, later in the quarter, Gipson was at it again as he did his best Noah Lyles impersonation and burst up the middle nearly untouched from 63 yards out, giving the Falcons a 14-6 lead.
On Palmdale’s next possession, Gipson took the handoff and sprinted up the Burros’ sideline for a 53-yard run and a 21-6 lead with 3:15 remaining. The Falcons led at halftime 27-6.
“Gipson had a beautiful game,” Coleman said. “We still have a lot of work to do. My hat’s off to Burroughs. They fought hard and they never gave up.”
Gipson’s encore came in the third quarter, which put the Falcons up 34-6, this time following a 61-yard run.
“We had to use this game to perfect our craft,” Palmdale’s Amir Bastine said. “We could have played way better and we have some things to clean up. It’s good to get that first win out of the way.”
The icing on the cake for Palmdale came in the fourth quarter. Mather was picked off in the end zone by Bryan Tula, who returned the interception 103 yards up his own sideline for the score.
