By DAVE BELCHER
Moapa Valley Progress
Fallon was in the state semi-finals for their third year in a row last Saturday as they hosted the Chaparral Cowboys in the other semi-final game.
The Green Wave beat the Cowboys 40-27 to advance to play in the state finals this Saturday against Moapa Valley.
Chaparral put a score into Fallon to start the game when they grabbed the first touchdown in the first 2:01. Richard Hernandez scored from 2 yards out.
The Cowboys would score again 1 minute and 40 seconds later when Tyler Ford picked a flat pass and returned it untouched 40 yards.
Adrian Zarate kicked both extra points.
The people of Moapa Valley were cheering when the score was announced. A Chaparral and Moapa Valley win in the semi-final round would mean the title game is played in the south.
But the Cowboy lead didn’t last long. Conner Richardson scored for Fallon 3 minutes and 19 seconds later with an 8 yard run. The kick missed for a 14-6 Chaparral lead.
Conner Nelson scored 4 minutes and 8 seconds later when he caught a 40 yard catch-and-run pass from Richardson. This time Riley Williams’ kick was good for a 14-13 score with :52 remaining in the first quarter.
Two minutes after the Green Wave touchdown, Richard Hernandez scored for the Cowboys on a 9 yard run. The PAT missed increasing Chaparral’s lead back to 7 at 20-13.
Cade Vercelletti scored the next three touchdowns for Fallon. The first was in the second quarter from 33 yards when he caught Richardson’s pass with 8:39 to play in the first half. The second one came four minutes later on a 2 yard run. Fallon lead 27-20 at half time.
Vercelletti’s third touchdown came on a 15 yard run with 3:50 to play in the third quarter. Conner Nelson would score in the fourth on a 3 yard pass reception from Richardson with 9:00 remaining in the game.
Chap had one last drive in them as Richard Nelson finished the scoring with a 7 yard touchdown run with 6:34 to play in the game for the final score of 40-27.
Chaparral finished with 247 yards of total offense. Andrew Solis finished with 171 yards passing on 16-30 attempts. He threw 2 interceptions.
Rushing, the Cowboys finished with 76 yards. Richard Nelson had 9 carries for 42 yards and a touchdown. Andrew Solis carried the ball 5 times for 34 yards. Richard Nelson scored twice.
Fallon had 435 yards total offense with 217 in the air, Connor Richardson was 11-16 and threw 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. They had 218 yards rushing with Cade Vercelletti running the ball 28 times for 125 yards and 2 touchdowns. Conner Richardson had 11 carries for 93 yards and 1 touchdown. Brock Uptain had 4 receptions for 84 yards for the Green Wave.
So the Pirates will play the Churchill County Green Wave in the State Championship game on Saturday. This is the team who, two years ago in Fallon, denied the Pirates of their state title appearance; the only time in a decade for the Pirates.
Also Saturday in Reno, Lincoln County will play Yerington in the division III championship at 4 PM at Reno High School. Yerington is the 2 time champion. Lincoln County is 11-1 while Yerington is 11-0.
Alamo will defend their 92 game win streak tying the 8 man national record. They will play Whittel at Dayton High School at 12 noon. Both teams are 11-0 on the season.
