Fallon's Sean McCormick tries to stay inbounds in Friday's game against Truckee.
After nabbing a signature win over Truckee last week, the Greenwave football team faces a team still searching for its first win.
Coming off a 42-22 win that saw the defense force turnover after turnover and the offense succeed both in the air and on the ground, Fallon (1-1 3A North) visits Wooster (0-2) tonight in Reno. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on KKTU 99.5 with longtime announcer Larry Barker calling the play-by-play and former-Greenwave quarterback Randy Beeghly providing the color.
The Colts have been on the wrong side of the scoreboard in their first three games of the season, including back-to-back shutouts to open league play. Truckee humbled Wooster, 35-0, two weeks ago and then Elko blanked the Reno team, 20-0, last week.
With South Tahoe, which went to state last year, coming to Fallon next week, tonight’s game could pose as a trap. But Fallon coach Brooke Hill isn’t worried as his previous teams have been able to take care of business against the bottom of the league.
“Good teams don’t allow that. Good football teams take it one game at a time,” he said. “The next game is the most important game. That’s what we talked with these kids. We’ve got to have that approach. It sets up to be a trap game.”
Fallon played its best game yet with the 20-point win over Truckee but Hill still sees areas to improve. As his young team gains more experience each week, Hill continues to stress the need to play a full football game. Against Truckee, Fallon was up by as many as 28 points before the Wolverines scored twice late in game.
“We did still play a little flat. We didn’t have great intensity,” Hill said of Fallon’s fourth-quarter effort. “You’ve got to finish the game. We’ve got to learn to put 48 minutes together.”
This week’s challenge is against a program that hasn’t posted a winning season in more than a decade. With Bo Sellers, the son of legendary coach Joe Sellers, at the helm in his second season, Wooster’s been trying to return to its roots of the 1990s teams.
“They’re going to be a physical run team like last year,” Hill said. “They’re big. They have a lot of numbers. They’re going to have more depth than us. They play smash-mouth football. We’ve got to meet that challenge and accept that challenge.”
But Fallon is starting to come together as a potentially dangerous football team after it hung 42 points on a Truckee team known for its defense.
Sophomore quarterback Elijah Jackson had his best game with 11 of 16 passing for 168 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
“As a sophomore, (Elijah) is doing a really good job,” Hill said. “There are some areas we’ve got to work at it. Just with his poise as a quarterback and the physical talent is there, he’s got arm strength, athletic ability and intelligence. It’s just the consistency.”
Junior Reid Clyburn exploded for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries (8.7 yard/carry) while junior Sean McCormick had 134 yards of total offense (42 rushing and 92 receiving) and a touchdown. Sophomore Brock Richardson grabbed three tosses for 76 yards and two touchdowns.
“(Reid) is explosive. He’s always a step away from going for touchdowns,” Hill said. “That’s what’s nice for him. We were real pleased with his progression.”
The McCormick brothers continue to shine on defense with Sean leading the team in tackles and Tommy, a sophomore, helping in the secondary. Senior Trent Thorn has stepped up at inside linebacker and Brenden Larsen had a big game against Truckee with an interception.
“Sean’s done really well. He’s really a player-of-the-year kind of kid,” Hill said. “Trent is kind of my quarterback back there, getting everyone lined up in the right spots.”
The defensive line has shown improvement, too, with juniors Ben Dooley, Gabe Hardy and Nick Delgado stepping up. With Tyler Ward, Bryce Larsen and Jacob Bake out, Hardy was moved from linebacker to defensive end Dooley and Delgado have shared snaps at the end position, too. Ward and Larsen are expected to return while Bake is done for the year.
“We’re in the backfield for most of the night. We did a pretty decent job,” Hill said about the defensive line. “We still can do a better job in the rush lanes. We’ve been moving guys around a little bit because of injuries.”
