Late Field Goal Sends Greenwave to State Semifinals

The Churchill County Greenwave had not even attempted a field goal all season when they lined up at the Elko seven-yard line with seven seconds left in last Friday’s Northern 3A semifinal game at the Edward Arciniega Athletic Complex.

On his first try of the season, Matthew Bird booted a game-winning 24-yard field goal that sent the Greenwave into the 3A state semifinals. Fallon will face SLAM! Academy at 1 p.m. Saturday, with the winner advancing to the state championship game on November 26 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. SLAM does not have a home field, and the location for Saturday’s game was still listed as TBD by the Nevada Interscholastic Association on Tuesday morning. 

The Greenwave stopped Elko on 4^th-and-1 with 58 seconds remaining to set up the final drive. Quarterback Matthew Bird had gotten twisted up making a tackle on a kickoff return, so it was backup quarterback Colin Shishido running the offense for the final drive. He connected on key passes to Calin Anderson and Andy Douglas, then scrambled out of bounds with seven seconds left to set up the game-winning kick.

“We had two timeouts, and we were able to handle the clock efficiently and effectively, and our kids made plays,” Churchill County High School Coach Calvin Connors said. “Defensively and offensively, the kids stepped up and were able to do what they needed to do for us to win.”

Fallon had jumped on top early with a touchdown pass from Bird to Wyatt Peek with 5:03 left in the first quarter. Two more touchdown passes by Bird, both to Anderson, had the Greenwave up 21-6 going to the fourth quarter before the Elko offense came alive, and Elko quarterback Ethan Kraintz connected on two touchdown passes to tie the game.

Elko converted a two-point conversion after its second touchdown to get within 21-14, but Elko was called for a personal foul on its last touchdown, and Connors elected to enforce the penalty on the extra point rather than the kickoff, to eliminate the possibility that Elko might go for two again and possibly take the lead.

Shishido completed 3-of-4 passes for 46 yards on the final drive and had the 8-yard scramble that set up the final kick.

Bird wound up with six completions in nine attempts for 135 yards and three touchdowns. Carson Melendy ran 18 times for 64 yards, and Bird had 50 yards on seven carries. Anderson led the Greenwave in receiving with 127 yards and two scores on six catches.

Fallon has now won four games in a row since losing to Fernley on Oct. 4, and Connors said this successful late-season run started in the second half of that loss to Fernley. Fernley led 22-0 in the first quarter of that game and 31-7 in the third before Fallon scored twice in the fourth quarter.

“You look at our progression from the start of the year to the end of the year. We’ve handled a lot of adversity,” Connors said. “We’ve been put in those positions before, and we’ve done a great job of handling it, and other times, we just kind of came up short.”

Connors said the Greenwave, now 7-4, would prefer to have won a few more games during the regular season, but he said the team is peaking at the ideal time.

“Those wins and losses have helped our kids learn how to win and how to lose and be able to flush whatever happened and move on to the next week,” he said.

Now they face SLAM with the chance to make it to the state championship game.

SLAM (Sports Leadership & Management of Nevada) is located in Henderson and has reached the state championship game the past two seasons, losing both times to Truckee. The SLAM Bulls are coached by Mike Cofer, a kicker on the San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl champion teams in 1989 and 1990.

SLAM quarterback Alaijah Young has passed for 1,218 yards on 101 completions out of 155 attempts, with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He is also the team’s second-leading rusher, with 87 carries for 667 yards and five touchdowns. Leading rusher Damien Nevil has 1,186 yards on 194 carries, with 18 touchdowns.

“They’ve been tested throughout the year, same with us, and they’ve had highs and lows and have been able to manage those well and get their team in this position in the semifinals,” Connors said. “If we can eliminate the big play from them and bottle up their athletes, then I think we’ll be just fine.”