Fallon quarterback Matthew Bird picks up some tough yards against Elko on Friday.
Photo by Steve Ranson.
.A 48-minute game between longtime rivals Elko and Fallon condensed itself into a 7-second outcome.
After Fallon had dominated the first half, Elko’s offense engineered by junior quarterback Ethan Kraintz tied the game 21-21.
Fallon quarterback and kicker Matthew Bird had a different perspective. With seconds ticking away at the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex, Bird kicked a field goal from the 7-yard line to defeat visiting Elko 24-21 in the second round of a Northern 3A playoff football game.
Fallon, 7-4 overall, advances to the third round in Las Vegas this weekend. Elko ends the 2024 campaign with an 8-3 record. Fallon also defeated Elko, 28-7, in the regular season in Elko.
The Greenwave faces SLAM on Saturday, while No. 1 Truckee faces Virgin Valley. The winners of Saturday’s games advance to the state championship game Nov. 26 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Fallon has rattled off four consecutive wins since losing to Fernley, 31-21, on Oct. 4.
The final score mirrored last year's playoff game which was played in Elko. With seconds left in that game, Kraintz split the uprights to defeat Fallon, 31-29.
This time, the game belonged to Fallon’s quarterback.
With 58 seconds left Friday, Fallon began its final drive from its 3-yard line after Elko turned the ball over on downs.
Backup quarterback Colin Shisido engineered the drive and relied on a 19-yard pass to Calin Anderson, who caught the ball and cut across the field. The left-handed Shisido took over for Bird, who had received a jarring hit.
With 17 seconds left, Shisido carried the ball and veered toward the Greenwave sidelines where he was pushed out of bounds for an 8-yard gain. Fallon had one play to define their season, and Bird delivered.
“I just wanted to do what Elko did to us last year,” said Bird, who was congratulating his teammates. “That’s all that was going through my mind. I thought I could make it.”
Bird, who’s only a junior, played on junior varsity last year until he was pulled up to varsity for the postseason. Bird said he will be ready to play next week.
“He was just a little injured,” said coach Calvin Connors. “We decided to go with Colin (Shishido), and he did an amazing job. He’s been working his butt off in practice.”
Connors said the 2-minute drills paid off. He also commended the play of Anderson and his receiving and the Wyatt Peek’s complete game on both defense and offense.
“His (Anderson) touchdown catch was huge,” Connors added.
In his first year at the helm of the Greenwave, Connors said many emotions wren going through his mind, but the complemented both the team and coaching staff for the win.
Fallon never trailed against Elko. The Wave scored first with a touchdown in the opening quarter.
Fallon mounted a solid drive and rode the legs of running back Carson Melendy for nine carries. The key play in the drive came at the Elko 32. Fallon lined up trips right, and Bird threaded the pass to Peek who stepped inside the pylon for the touchdown with 5:03 remaining in the quarter.
Bird’s kick completed the scoring.
Elko mounted its own drive after taking the kickoff to their 28-yard line. The key play came when Kraintz found Coy Jones deep in Fallon territory at the 5.
Kraintz, who was contained in the first half by the Fallon defense, completed 12 of 19 passes for 123 yards, and added 60 rushing yards. Elko had 264 yards in total offense.
With the next play coming at the beginning of the second quarter, Jake Carsrud veered left on a fourth and 5, but the Fallon defensive line stiffened and dropped the tough running back for a 2-yard game.
Elko’s offense began to wear out the Greenwave defense in the second quarter. Down at the Fallon 1 with a first and goal, Kraintz was stopped a half-yard shy of the end zone. On the next play, Fallon’s defensive line and specifically linebacker Kacin Rogne stopped Elko again, recovering a fumble inches from the goal line.
Elko finally had a shot to score on its next series of downs after stopping Fallon again.
Kraintz ran with the ball to the Fallon 35, but on a first and 0 from the 29, Fallon was flagged for pass interception. Two plays later Kraintz hooked up with Jones for a touchdown with 1:25 remaining in the first half.
Peek, though, stopped the 2-point run, and with less than 2 minutes remining before halftime, Fallon led 7-6.
The Wave swept over the Elko defense like a tornado. On a third and 4 from the Fallon 26, Bird tucked the ball, ran forward but then shifted toward the Fallon sideline and turned upfield where the Elko secondary caught up with him at the 35.
With 34 seconds left in the first half, Bird launched a high pass to Anderson who leaped high to pull down the ball. With Bird’s extra-point kick, Fallon led 14-6 before halftime.
Elko began the third quarter with an impressive drive beginning at their 32-yard line. A Fallon pass interference on a first and 10 from the 42 moved the ball onto the Fallon side of the gridiron, yet the Indians’ offense sputtered on a fourth and 8 from the 30 when Kraintz threw an incomplete pass.
With time winding down in the third quarter, Fallon stopped Elko again on a fourth-down play. In six plays, Fallon covered 40-yard in five plays capped by Bird’s 9-yard pass to Anderson, who smothered the ball while falling to his knees.
Elko’s defensive lineman Treagan Hansen sacked Bird for a loss, but on the next play, Bird threaded the ball 29-yards to Anderson. With the PAT, Fallon had a two-touchdown lead, 21-6.
“My game was really good,” Anderson said of his evening under the lights.
But his feeling immediately swung to the game’s last minute.
“We started marching down the field, and we scored on a field goal,” he said. “It felt ‘real’ good.”
Elko’s offense, though, found holes in the Greenwave’s defense. On the first play in the fourth quarter but on the same drive, Kraintz completed a 19-yard pass to Jones, and the extra point tightened Fallon’s lead to 21-14.
Fallon struggled on their next possession. Elko forced the green-and-white to punt again and took over on the Greenwave 39. In five plays, Elko scored when Kraintz found Armando Costa for a 28-yard pass and the extra point tied the game at 21 with 5:53 left in the playoff game.
Fallon’s defense set up the Greenwave’s final drive. On a fourth and two from the Greenwave 6, Fallon stopped Elko short of making a first town on a fourth and 2 from the 36-yard line.
In six plays Fallon maneuvered its offense to give Bird a shot with the last-second field goal.
FALLON 24, ELKO 21
Passing
Colin Shishido: 3-4-46
Matthew Bird: 6-9-135-3
Team: 9-13-181-3
Rushing
Colin Shishido: 1-8
Carson Melendy: 18-64
Matthew Bird: 7-50
Rylan Clark: 2-5
Team: 28-127
Receiving
Andrew Douglas: 1-17
Calin Anderson: 6-127
Wyatt Peek: 2-37
Team: 9-181
Tackles
(Solo-Assist)
Colin Shishido: 4
Carson Melendy: 3
Brenan Alves: 4
Kacin Rogne: 4
M. Richardson: 7-1
Barry Mitchell: 1
Andrew Douglas: 1
Wyatt Peek: 4-1
Rylan Clark: 3
Manny Karaway: 10
Caleb Edgeman: 3
Chad Agaman: 3
Trevor Hyde: 8
Garrett Payne: 1
Joseph Romero: 1
Caleb Moss: 1
Team: 58-2