Fallon’s Wyatt Peek tries to catch a pass from Matthew Bird while Reed’s Xavier Huizar defends the play during Friday's game.
Photo by Thomas Ranson.
Reed High School, a preseason pick to challenge defending Manogue High School in the Northern 5A conference, spoiled Calvin Connors’ debut as the Greenwave’s football coach Friday night at the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex.
The Raiders pasted 35-first quarter points against Fallon and added a field goal in the second frame to ride out a 38-7 win over the Wave.
The 35 points in the first quarter triggered a running clock until Fallon scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter. A running clock is implemented when a team is up 35 points or more.
Reed’s senior quarterback Nishaan Bajwa, who led the Raiders to a win over Fallon a year ago in Sparks, completed 10 of 11 passes for 140 yards and three touchdowns. Bajwa threw 11 passes for 73 yards in the 2023 game which the Raiders won 23-16.
Fallon plays at home Friday in a 7 p.m. game against former Northern 3A foe North Valleys. The Panthers shut out Sparks 43-0 Friday night.
Going into the game, Connors knew Reed would be a formidable opponent.
“That just takes time with our kids getting experience,” he said. “For a lot of these kids, this was their first varsity game. We played a very good Reed Raider team. They’re very well coached and are assignment sound. It was good for us to go ahead and be able to get the jitters out and move on from this loss. You learn more from a loss than a win. We’re going to clean up what we need to clean up and get ready for North Valleys.”
Reed marched down the field in eight plays, capped by Bawja’s 11-yard pass to Sean Mcguire who cut inside from the left side of the line.
Max Fuentez kicked the extra point, the first of five.
On Fallon’s first possession, the Raiders’ defense end Mitchell Bertolino picked off Matthew Bird’s pass and cruised 11 yards into the end zone.
Offense mistakes continued to haunt the Wave. On its next possession, Reed intercepted a pass midfield with 6:53 left in the first quarter.
“The good thing is when we were making positive plays, it was all there for us. It was those little things we were shooting ourselves in the foot offensively,” he added about the Wave’s turnovers.
In two plays Bawja threw a 30-yard pass which was tipped but then caught by Ezekiel Mckay.
With the PAT, Reed led 21-0 with 6:15 left in the quarter.
On the ensuing series of plays, Fallon had punted after four plays, but an interference call resulted in a 15-yard penalty against the Wave.
Reed took over on the 40 and Bawja drove the Raiders to the Greenwave 15. On a third-down play, Bawja found Bertolino for a Reed score.
Another touchdown and extra point resulted in a 35-0 lead.
The Raiders final points occurred in the second quarter on a 27-yard field goal from Fuentes.
“Being able to communicate on defense and making sure our linebackers are communicating with our DBs, but that’s on us as a coaching staff to get the play in faster,” Connors said. “That just takes time and adjustments. Making sure we’re in the right spot to be successful is where it comes down to.”
Fallon scored in the fourth quarter on Rylan Clark’s 5-yard plunge.
“That was huge,” Connors said. “That was, obviously, the biggest positive we had offensively.”
Connors said Fallon had a great drive aided by the offensive line and running back Clark. Connors said Clark has great vision and possesses quickness.
“I thought he had a good drive and Matthew Bird (quarterback) did a good job as well to make things happen when things break down,” Connors said. “I give a big shout out to the O-line. In the first half, we had a lot of plays running the ball and unfortunately, we didn’t cap it off with getting down (field).”
No official statistics for Fallon were available at press time.