Fallon stopped by Elko’s goal-line heroics in 3A thriller

A pair of goal-line stands prevented Fallon from reaching the end zone as Elko avenged last year’s loss with a 13-8 win on Friday at Warrior Field in Elko.

Fallon (4-2, 3A North) drops to third in the league with one game remaining while the Indians (5-1) now control the No. 2 seed and final bye for the playoffs, which begin in two weeks. Truckee (6-0) clinched the No. 1 seed last week.

Fallon welcomes Lowry on Friday for Senior Night at 7 p.m. at the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex. A win keeps Fallon from finishing no worse than third but it will need Spring Creek to upset Elko for Fallon to regain the No. 2 seed and first-round bye. If Fallon finishes third, it will host a playoff game next week against the No. 6 seed, which will be either Lowry or Fernley (both are 2-4).

Elko led the entire night after scoring the opening touchdown with 1 minute, 40 seconds left in the first quarter as all points were scored in the first half.

The second half belonged to the defense when Elko stopped Fallon multiple times.

After a couple of pass plays from Bryce Adams to Carter Paul gave Fallon a first down in Elko territory, the offense turned to the run game for the rest of the series. Roland Grondin broke free on the sixth play of the series when he ran 28 yards to the 4-yard line. Facing fourth-and-goal from the 10, Adams handed the ball to Grondin on a draw and he was stopped 1 yard shy of the end zone late in the third quarter.

A pass interference call against Elko extended Fallon’s second attempt at scoring in the half, which started on its own 25-yard line in the fourth quarter. Adams’ pass to Baylor Sandberg on third-and-12 gave Fallon a first down before another completion on third-and-five put the team into Elko territory.

After Adams’ keeper gave the Greenwave a new set of downs at the Elko 7, Grondin was denied three times from breaking through the end zone, including a fourth-and-1.

Fallon forced Elko to punt to the Greenwave’s 16-yard line with 2:57 left in the game.

The Greenwave had momentum building after Sandberg’s reception sandwiched between Alves’ two catches put Fallon near midfield. After a Grondin 1-yard run, Adams was picked off.

Fallon’s lone touchdown came after the defense picked up a safety when a penalty was called against Elko in the end zone with 6:54 left in the second and Elko up 7-2. A pair of runs by Grondin and Ethan Tarner’s reception to the Elko 6 set up a 6-yard touchdown run by Grondin with 1:03 left in the half.

But Elko responded quickly after the kickoff was returned to the Fallon 40. A 15-yard touchdown pass from Ethan Kraintz to Jacob Aguirre gave Elko a 13-8 lead with 23 seconds remaining.