Fallon quarterback Keaton Williams led Fallon with 124 passing yards, including a deep strike in the second half, in Fallon’s 28-14 win against Spring Creek on Saturday.
A defensive battle in the first half let up after the break as the Greenwave football team exploded for 22 points to knock off Spring Creek, 28-14, Saturday at the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex.
The win puts Fallon 1-0 in the 3A East and as it travels to Elko on Friday. Fallon doesn’t return home until Oct. 22 when it hosts Lowry for Senior Night and Homecoming. Fallon travels to cross-valley rival Fernley on Oct. 15.
Senior quarterback Keaton Williams completed 6-of-11 passes for 124 yards and one touchdown, a 71-yard strike to Steven Moon, and sophomore Victor Sepulveda rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries.
Despite the Spartans running almost twice as many plays (62-35) and outgaining the Greenwave (243-227), Fallon benefited from a pair of big plays in the second half after Spring Creek opened the third quarter with a touchdown.
But it was the defense that stood out initially as the Spartans chewed up most of the clock in the opening quarter.
Spring Creek marched down the field on its first drive, picking up a pair of first downs, including a fourth-down conversion when running back Jacob Marizza’s 6-yard run put his team on Fallon’s 27-yard line. A false start pushed the Spartans back on second down, but they were able to recover to set up a third-and-10. Fallon, though, stopped Marizza for an 18-yard loss, forcing Spring Creek to punt on fourth-and-28 with 4 minutes, 30 seconds left in the quarter.
Fallon was forced to punt on its first drive, but the defense stepped up again, stopping Spring Creek on a fourth-and-15 attempt when Weston Peterson’s incomplete pass to Kayden Boyle gave Fallon the ball on its own 34. Five plays later, Sepulveda scored from 29 yards out to give Fallon a 6-0 lead with 10:57 left in the half.
The Spartans answered on their third drive with Marizza running on four of the six plays, including a 3-yard touchdown with 8:57. The successful PAT gave Spring Creek a 7-6 lead.
Fallon opened the second half with a punt but Marizza’s 39-yard run on third-and-2 set up the Spartans in the red zone. Three plays later, Peterson found Josh Billat in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown with 7:02 left in the quarter.
Down 14-6, Fallon quickly tied the game when junior Isiah Diaz returned the kickoff for an 84-yard touchdown with 6:56 to go in the third quarter.
After Fallon’s defense forced Spring Creek to punt for only 7 yards and to its own 26-yard line, Sepulveda broke the tie in the third quarter on the sixth play of the series with a 4-yard score with 1:20 left.
Another forced punt plus a goal line stop when Peterson’s 5-yard completion fell 1 yard shy of the end zone on fourth down put Fallon on its own 1 for the next series. Williams found breathing room with a pair of runs and 12-yard completion to Tyler Austin, setting up a touchdown pass to Moon for 71 yards with 8:38 left in the game.
The Greenwave defense stopped the Spartans on their last two drives, both ending on failed fourth-down conversions. Peterson threw incomplete passes on both fourth-down attempts, including a fourth-and-23 with 36 seconds left in the game after a holding penalty pushed Spring Creek back near midfield.
