Within 2 minutes after the nonleague game kicked off Friday night at the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex, the Greenwave scored two touchdowns (and added seven more) as Fallon defeated Sparks 58-6.
Fallon plays on the road Saturday in a 7 p.m. game at Truckee.
Greenwave coach Brooke Hill said his players came out with intensity. Even though Fallon lost to Reed the prior week in the fourth quarter, Hill said he wanted to see improvement.
“The kids anticipated the good plays, and overall, they had a pretty good effort,” Hill said.
Hill said both the defense and offense had to play at a high level. Although he was afraid of a letdown, he didn’t see it.
Steve Moon heads to the end zone in the first quarter after receiving a pass from Brady Alves.
Steve Ranson/LVN
“It’s still early in the year,” he added.
The Railroaders opted to kick first to the Wave, and on the game’s first series, the Wave marched down the field in five plays.
Fallon quarterback Brady Alves spotted Baylor Sandberg down the sideline, and the junior wide receiver hauled in the ball in for a 35-yard score.
Alves also accounted for the next two touchdowns. He fired a pass to Steve Moon who then shook off two Sparks defenders to reach the end zone on a 13-yard pass play. The two-point conversion from Alves to Moon gave the Wave a 22-0 lead with 5:55 left in the opening quarter.
On Sparks next series, the Railroaders fumbled and the Greenwave’s Rafe Brown pounced on the ball on the Sparks 27. Roland Grondin blasted through the Railroaders’ defensive line to the 3-yard line, and on the next play, he put his head down and plowed ahead for his only touchdown in the game.
The Fallon defense hampered the Railroaders’ offensive game. On the third play, Carter Paul intercepted the ball on the Sparks 47.
Tristan Hill picked up 9 yards for the Wave on Fallon’s first play to the Sparks 38, but the dealmaker came when Alves drilled a 17-yard pass to Ethan Tanner. Fallon worked the ball down to the 5-yard line before Hill punched the ball across the goal line.
Caden McKnight (13) had a busy night kicking off for Fallon. Wyatt Steffens is No. 12.
Steve Ranson/LVN
The 2-point pass was no good, but Fallon led 34-0 with 3:28 left in the first quarter.
Sparks scored its only touchdown early in the second quarter on a 13-yard pass from quarterback Max Hendrix to Omar Dominguez. The PAT failed.
Fallon needed only four plays to strike again on the next series. Alves found his favorite receiver on the fourth play, a 19-yard pass to Tanner. The 6-foot 3-inch wide receiver caught three passes for the night accounting for 54 yards.
Grondin ran in the 2-point conversion and Fallon led 42-6 that resulted in a running clock for the rest of the game. When a team leads by 35 points or more, a running clock ticks off the minutes and stops only for an injury, timeout or the end of a quarter.
Fallon added a 26-yard touchdown run in the second quarter after Jeremiah Prinz recovered a Sparks fumble deep in the Railroaders’ side of the field.
In the fourth quarter, Evermar Garcia capped an 11-play drive, all on the ground, for a 2-yard touchdown. He also ran in the 2-point conversion.
Alves completed 6 of 6 passes for 114 yards. Seven players gained yard on the ground led by Grondin with 49 yards and Garcia with 45.
Hill said Sparks has a new coach and system, and it will take time to learn.
“In our first two years, we were 4-6 each year,” Hill said. “It takes time to learn a new system.”
Steve Ranson/LVN
The Fallon defense limited the Railroaders in a 58-6 win for Fallon.
Sparks 0 6 0 0 6
Fallon 34 16 0 8 58
1st Quarter
F — Alves 35 pass complete to Sandberg. Run failed.
F — Alves 5 run. Alves to Moon 2-point conversion.
F — Alves 13 pass Moon for 13 yards. Alves to Moon 2-point conversion.
F – Grondin 3 run. Pass no good.
F — Hill 5 run. Pass no good.
2nd Quarter
S — Hendrix 11 pass Dominguez. Kick no good.
F — Alves 19 pass complete Tarner. Grondin 2-point run.
F — Moon 26 run. Hill 2-point run.
4th Quarter
F — Garcia 2 runs. Garcia 2-point run.
PASSING STATS
Cmp Att Yds Cmp% TD Int
Alves 6 6 114 100% 3 0
RUSHING STATS
Att Yds Avg TD
Grondin 4 49 12.3 1
Garcia 7 45 6.4 1
Alves 5 38 7.6 1
Hill 5 30 6 1
Moon 1 26 26 1
Ruiz 4 19 4.8 0
Mcfadden 2 14 7 0
RECEIVING STATS
Rec Yds Avg TD
Tarner 3 54 18 1
Sandberg 1 35 35 1
Moon 1 13 13 1
McKnight 1 12 12 0
