Connor Nelson (3) scores on an 88-yard opening kickoff of the second half one week aga against South Tahoe as Cade Vercellotti blocks. Fallon plays tonight at Dayton beginning at 7 p.m.
The Greenwave varsity football team is at 3-1 overall and 3-0 in league play since their 28-6 victory over South Tahoe on Friday. Today the Wave will be squaring off at an away game against Dayton at 7 p.m. to see if they can keep their momentum.
Though the Dust Devils are behind at 0-4 overall and 0-3 in league play, Fallon coach Brooke Hill was not reluctant to repeat that, like every other team the Wave has gone up against, he plans to take Dayton as seriously as they come.
“Obviously they’ve been struggling to get points on the board,” Hill said, “but they’ve played some pretty good football, and we are a consistent approach. We’ll approach things the same no matter who we’re playing from week to week and we don’t really worry so much about the opponent as we do making ourselves better from day to day.”
Fallon’s key players have been making a name for themselves on their road to State. Senior quarterback Connor Richardson has a total of 112 passing yards with a .700 completion percentage, and an impressive touchdown of his own under his belt from his run against the Vikings that exemplified the strength of the Wave’s pistol game.
Brock Uptain has been building his reputation as well since he returned from injury just in time for the game against South Tahoe. Uptain boasted six successful catches, five first-down completions and a nearly impenetrable defense against the Vikings, with such highlights as his simultaneous tackles when the Vikings were at the Wave 2-yard line that prevented a touchdown. Hill remarked that he felt Uptain did an exceptionally good job upon his return and that it was good to see him have a solid game since his injury.
Uptain was also reliable in blocking for the Wave’s screen game against the Vikings throughout the night.
Hill was also pleased with junior Connor Nelson’s performance with the turning point of the game, running back the kickoff for an 88-yard touchdown at the opening of the second half.
“We spend a lot of time on special teams,” Hill said. “So we have weapons out there too and we want people to know. Nelson is a returner. Even though we’re pistol and run, it’s kind of nice to see we have a good returning game.”
Meanwhile, up-and-comer Cade Vercellotti has continued to perform since his head-turning performance against Wooster two weeks ago, with consecutive 100 yard running weeks that have put him up over 300 yards rushing in the past three games according to Hill who cites Vercellotti as the Wave’s new No. 1 back since he was moved to the back field.
After almost all of their injured players have returned in time for the match against Dayton, Hill is still awaiting further news on senior running back Trae Workman, who according to Hill, will have surgery and may be back in the next few weeks.