Showcasing the versatility that has defined its season, the Churchill County High School football team used a dominant ground game to beat Elko 42-14 last Friday and clinch the No. 1 seed for the 3A Northern League playoffs.
The Greenwave has earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs and will host the league’s No. 4 or No. 5 seed on Nov. 6.
This week, the Greenwave looks to finish the regular season unbeaten when it visits Lowry at 7 p.m. Friday.
Fallon’s season has been defined by versatility, and has gotten to this point by turning its offense into a tactical game of whack-a-mole for opposing coordinators. With multiple ways to win each week, when opponents try to neutralize one option, the Greenwave finds another threat to pop up somewhere else.
Elko attempted to lock down Fallon’s passing game with double- and sometimes triple-coverage on its receivers, so the Greenwave took advantage with its running game.
“The biggest portion of the game that the kids stepped up was our O-line, running backs, and quarterbacks," Fallon head coach Connors said. "Our receivers were taken away, which gave us a light box to run, so we ran the ball."
Alijah Juarez took advantage early to set the tone, capping Fallon’s opening possession with an 18-yard touchdown to put Fallon up 7-0. Nathaniel Bianchi followed with a 3-yard run that made it 13-0.
Elko found an answer in the second quarter when Hagen Robinson broke loose for a 22-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 13-7.
However, Fallon responded immediately. Bianchi found the end zone for the second tie on a 2-yard run, extending the lead to 19-7.
Connors said the key moment came in the final minute of the first half. The Greenwave got the ball with about40 seconds left, and scored in two plays. Juarez ran for 27 yards, followed by a spectacular 26-yrd touchdown pass from Camden Richardson to Calin Anderson, who leaped over double coverage to secure the catch. The score sent Fallon into halftime with a 27-7 cushion.
Connors said the Greenwave defense put the offense in great field position all night with multiple 3-and-outs and fourth down stops.
“Proud of the execution in all three phases,” Connors said. “You’re given the ball on so many opportunities and we capitalized on all of those in the first half.”
The Greenwave scored on two third-quarter drives as well, on a 15-yard run by Calin Anderson to go up 34-7, followed by a 7-yard touchdown pass from Richardson to Cameron Anderson to make it 42-7.
Connors said it felt good to avenge the Greenwave’s only loss from last season.
“But at the same time, it’s a different head coach, different kids, and the same with us as far as a different team,” he said. “You don’t want to forget about last season, but don’t hang your hat on it because that team was a different team and their team was a different team. Focus on this season and what makes our team great.”
This year, that has mean being able to succeed in many different ways.
Against Elko, the Greenwave wound up running the ball 30 times for 202 yards, and passing just nine times, completing seven for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
Now they have a chance to finish an undefeated regular season, before turning their attention to the playoffs.
“We’ve just got to finish out regular season strong, do what we need to do and control what we can control,” Connors said.
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