Fallon aims to buck trend

Short rest, big rival and the only losing streak left to vanquish faces the Fallon football team on Thursday.

The Greenwave hosts Lowry at 7 p.m. in the Northern Division I-A regular-season finale for both teams.

Fallon (8-0 league, 8-1 overall) aims to snap its three-game losing skid to the Buckaroos (6-2, 7-2) and cement an undefeated league record heading into the regional playoffs on Nov. 7.

Lowry has owned Fallon in the teams’ previous three meetings dating back to 2012. The Buckaroos have outscored the Wave 89-35 in those games including a 47-14 beat down in the playoffs in 2012. Fallon’s last win was a 24-0 victory in 2012.

“Other than Truckee those few years, they (Lowry) are the team we’ve struggled with the most,” Fallon coach Brooke Hill said. “They’re always going to be competitive, always be physical and always have a strong run game. In years past, that’s something that’s something that has caused us problems.”

Fallon, though, is riding a seven-game winning streak including a 28-20 thriller over cross-valley rival Fernley on Friday.

The Wave’s offense is spearheaded by hard-nosed running back Nathan Heck, who ran wild (248 yards, three touchdowns) against Fernley. Quarterback Joe Pyle has been just as efficient leading Fallon’s passing attack and also is a threat on the read-option.

“We’ve used good balance, and guys are executing up front in the run game,” Hill said. “Up front we are taking care of business. In the pass game … we are spreading it around a bit.”

The Buckaroos are a solid team, although the club is not as deep or as explosive as in the past. Against Elko and Fernley, the other two playoff teams, Lowry has been outscored 67-14 and had to rally from a 22-0 hole against Spring Creek last week.

The Buckaroos are led by running back Beau Billingsley (1,210 rushing yards, 19 touchdowns) and quarterback Christian Gray (1,166 yards, six TDs and nine interceptions).

Still, with a losing record against Lowry since 2010, Hill said it’s a source of motivation for his club.

“Because we are 1-4 against them since joining this league, there’s no way I’m going to take this game off,” Hill said. “We’ve played a lot of games where we’re supposed to win and we’ve come out on top in most.”

One question for Hill, though, is whether he will rest or sit any starters. It is likely Fallon and Lowry will meet again next week (should Fernley beat Dayton) in the first round of the playoffs.

Hill, though, said his starters will play and the focus of the team is to win. The case for resting some starters is to avoid injury, while the counter is to continue the rhythm and solid play built over the past seven weeks.

Running back Charles Fulks suffered a knee injury against Fernley, although it is not serious and he is expected to play on Thursday.

“We are going out there to win,” Hill said. “We’re not too beat up. We’d like to finish undefeated in our (league) season. Obviously net week is more important than this week, but the approach we’ve always taken … is this is our most important game.”

Due to Nevada Day, all but two teams — South Tahoe and Truckee — will play on short rest.

“We lose a day,” Hill said. “It’s competition, it’s playing a good football team we (are potentially) going to see two weeks in a row. We can se this as an opportunity to get in-depth with these guys.”

As for seeding, Elko (8-1) is No. 2, while Fernley (6-2) and Lowry can be either the third or fourth seed. Fernley locks up the No. 3 seed with a win at Dayton, although the Vaqueros can drop to the fourth seed with a loss and a loss by Fallon.