Fallon Greenwave looks to break drought

They expected to be playing in the final high school game in the state.

With a small group left over from the 2013 Greenwave football team that came up short in the state championship, this year’s 25-man senior class is determined to give the school and its community a reason to hang up another a banner. After dismantling Chaparral in the state semifinal game last week, Fallon meets defending state champion Moapa Valley, a 17-0 winner over Elko, on Saturday at noon at Reno High School for the Division I-A state championship. Larry Barker (play by play) and Randy Beeghly (color) will broadcast the game on KKTU 99.5 beginning at 11:30 a.m.

“I think you’re going to see two good football teams that play good defense and have athletes,” Fallon coach Brooke Hill said. “You’re probably going to see a lower scoring game than you’re used to. You never know. It’s about team that adjusts and limit mistakes. In the championship game, you never know how these things will come out. We definitely can’t turn the ball over seven, eight times.”

The memory of the 2013 season finale still lingers for Hill and his staff. After blasting through the competition, Fallon won its regional playoff game and then held off Moapa Valley in the state semifinal before being shut out by Faith Lutheran in the championship.

This year, though, is different.

Fallon is loaded on both sides of the ball. It doesn’t turn the ball over as often; the defense is more proficient and experience, especially with the large senior class who has taken center stage; and it showed last week when the team didn’t buckle against Chaparral after digging itself a 14-0 hole. Instead, the Greenwave battled back to win 40-27.

“This group’s always confident,” Hill said. “They’re always mature in their approach and knowing that it takes preparation, Monday through Friday, to be able to succeed on Saturday. They’ve always been good about that. We got down 14-0 and didn’t abandon game plan. They’ve got lot of belief in program. They’re confident. We know our work’s cut out for us.”

And Hill’s right.

Although Moapa Valley doesn’t have its star quarterback back from the state-title winning squad, the Pirates boast one of — if not — the best receiver in the state.

R.J. Hubert, who committed to nationally ranked Utah, was an all-state selection last year after posting monster numbers but has dipped a little this year with 39 catches for 760 yards and nine touchdowns. Different from last year, though, is Hubert is more involved in the running game as he’s rushed for 604 yards on 64 carries, including 13 touchdowns.

“Their quarterback led them to a state title. They threw ball quite a bit but are more spread now,” Hill said of the difference between facing Moapa Valley two years ago and this year’s Pirates. “Their quarterback’s good, but they like to run the ball more. R.J. Hubert presents a challenge as a receiver. They kind of move him all over the place.”

At first, the Pirates weren’t dynamic on offense with Trystin Deal and Sterling Simmons at running back and Hubert seeing action at receiver. But improvement at the running back position allowed Moapa Valley coach Lewis to spread the offense and add more threats, which helped in upsetting top seed Desert Pines earlier this month before knocking off Elko last week. Deal is the team’s top rusher with 782 yards followed by Simmons with 742.

“We just kept at it, and I think steadily all those guys (improved) — Simmons and Deal — and now we’ve added a couple other kids into the mix on top of R.J.,” Brent Lewis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Now we feel like we have way more weapons. We can spread it around and they can’t just key on R.J.”

Stopping the dynamic offense will be one of the main missions for the Greenwave, and the defense has been dominant this year. Fallon posted three league shutouts and didn’t allow more than 14 points during the Division I-A season. Even in last week’s win over Chaparral, the defense allowed three touchdowns.

“We changed our tackling techniques,” Hill said, citing a difference with this year’s defense. “It’s mostly the experience of the kids. If you go back to 2013 team, we had a lot of young guys playing.”

Senior Johnny Mayo leads the defense with 92 total tackles and junior T.J. Mauga, who played on the 2013 state team as a freshman, has 82 tackles. Seniors Evan Bitter and Riley Williams have 79 and 78 tackles, respectively. Senior Aaron Bitter leads the Greenwave with five interceptions as Fallon turned in 15 picks on the season. Mauga leads the team in sacks with 10.

“R.J. Hubert is our main threat and we need to contain him,” Aaron Bitter said. “They are a really good team and have some good schemes.”

But Fallon will need to take care of business on offense, as well, after digging that early hole and turning the ball over two years ago.

“That’s where having the ability to just move the ball down and do what the defense gives you,” Hill said. “We kind of waited for the big play and when Faith Lutheran took that away, it hurt.”

The Greenwave dug a huge hole two years ago and resorted to throwing the ball to climb out of the deficit but turned the ball over on nearly every possession in the second half. One of the differences this year, though, is Fallon’s ability to drive the ball and having quarterback Connor Richardson posing a dual threat.

“He’s navigating our offense well. He doesn’t try to do too much,” Hill said. “But he’s been real proficient. He’s running the game with his legs and passing the football. He’s ready to eclipse what Morgan (Dirickson) did in 2013 in personal records. What he can do with his legs is dynamic. He can make a lot of plays outside the pocket. It’s something you can’t teach. He puts a lot of pressure on the defense that way.”

Richardson enters Saturday’s game completing 178 of 261 passes for 2,479 yards and 32 touchdowns against eight interceptions. The senior signal caller has also rushed for 543 yards on 83 carries, including seven touchdowns.

“In the playoffs, we know these teams are good. They’re there for a reason,” Richardson said. “Obviously, we don’t care about the scoring anymore. We care about the win. It’s going to be a dogfight and we have the ability to come out victorious.”

Richardson isn’t alone on offense as Cade Vercellotti has slipped into the running back role smoothly as the junior has rushed for 1,025 yards on 152 carries, including 16 touchdowns. Senior Trae Workman has been a bonus with 367 rushing yards on 61 carries.

“They’re primarily a spread team, and they run it out of the spread and throw it out of the spread,” Lewis said. “They make you play the entire field. The more I look at them, we know we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

In the air, Richardson has spread the wealth, targeting four receivers at least 20 times. Junior Brock Uptain leads the receiving corps with 51 receptions for 806 yards, including six touchdowns, while junior Conner Nelson has 45 catches for 588 yards and 11 touchdowns. Senior Evan Bitter has 20 receptions for 347 yards and four touchdowns while Vercelloti has 21 for 270 yards and also four touchdowns.

“They will be a good team and are well coached,” Uptain said of the challenge in facing Moapa Valley. “They play real good. But we need to get our jobs done.”