Sputtering to victory

TRUCKEE — A lethargic and uninspired effort still resulted in victory.

Penalties and an inconsistent passing game hindered the Fallon football team, but the Wave managed a 28-6 Northern Division I-A win over Truckee on Saturday.

Despite the inconsistencies, Fallon senior quarterback Joe Pyle tossed three touchdown passes as the Wave improved to 1-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. Truckee falls to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in league.

“I think we got a little complacent,” Fallon coach Brooke Hill said. “When we got up 21-0, we got a little sloppy … and let it get away. It’s early … and we go to improve in that fashion. In the middle part of the game was kind of blasé.”

Fallon came out hot scoring on its first three drives, but Truckee’s defense soon stiffened and held the Wave to one TD in the final two quarters.

Fallon’s defense, meanwhile, was stingy all day minus one break down and forced three turnovers and held the Wolverines’ offense in check throughout the day.

The Wave opened the scoring with a 29-yard TD pass from Pyle to Tyler Bagby, who played in his first game of the season. Fallon followed up with a 1-yard TD plunge from Dylan Jabines and 5-yard pass from Pyle to Connor Richardson for a 21-0 lead with 4:13 remaining in the first half.

Truckee, though, mounted its best drive of the game as quarterback Sean Bokinskie hit Tyler Davis on consecutive plays for gains of 14 and 5 yards. Two plays later, running back Tanner Sawyer took the handoff and busted up the gut for a 56-yard TD run to slice the lead to 21-6.

The second half, however, was flag-filled as both teams stalled on several drives due to a rash of penalties. Both teams were penalized 80 yards, although Truckee was flagged 10 times to Fallon’s nine.

“We played better defense,” Hill said. “Offensively, we are still a little out of rhythm. We ran the ball pretty good, but we got to be more consistent. We had bad penalties at times.”

“We had times where we’d pop one and then we’d fumble,” Truckee coach Josh Ivens added. “We were moving the ball, we had a great call and quarterback went for 12 yards on a draw … it was called back on a procedure penalty. We’re not designed at this point in the season to overcome that.”

Fallon left 14 points on the field as Pyle missed Jordan Schultz, who was wide open down the sideline in the second quarter. Pyle overthrew another receiver, who beat the defender in Truckee’s end zone.

Pyle, though ended the game on a high note as he connected with Richardson for a 13-yard TD pass to ice the game.

Despite the pair of miscues, Hill was pleased with Pyle’s improvement in the past week.

“Joe’s just got to get that timing,” Hill added. “He can make all the throws and when he makes good throws they are right on the money. There are a lot of new receivers, too. I think you’ll see a better version of Joe (this) week.”

Bokinskie, meanwhile, threw a pair of interceptions as he completed 9 of 16 passes for 66 yards. Running back Wulfe Retzlaff also fumbled, but he led the defense with 12 tackles, three for a loss and a trio of sacks. The Wolverines sacked Pyle four times.

Truckee, though, had its chances but the Wolverines turned the ball over twice in the fourth quarter including once on downs.

On fourth-and-2 from their own 44-yard line, Retzlaff was stuffed for a 1-yard gain. After a three-and-out, Bokinskie was picked off by Riley Williams with 2:27 remaining and led to Fallon’s final score.

Bokinskie’s second interception came off a tipped ball and found the hands of Fallon’s Trae Workman with 14 seconds left in the game.

“Fallon is very athletic and deep,” Ivens said. “We wore down and were not used to that in our environment. We played with a lot of heart on defense. We had our chances to get into the game and couldn’t quite get over the hump.”