Tompkins coach Todd McVey had a simple answer when asked what he told junior quarterback Jalen Milroe after he had potentially thrown a game-ending interception during the first overtime of Tompkins’ 30-27 Class 6A-Division I area round playoff win against Cypress Falls on Friday, Nov. 22.

“Nothing,” McVey said. “(Assistant) Coach (Mark) Hopkins talks to him and then we go on to the next play. We don’t linger.”

The Falcons’ approach and focus on being resilient worked against the Eagles, as it has against most teams this year. On the play after Milroe’s, senior defensive back Pryce Powell had an interception to keep the game going.

“This time of the year, it’s about making a play,” McVey said. “Powell has been doing that the last two years. He’s our senior safety back there and we expect him to do those things, and I’m real proud of him.”

And on Tompkins’ next drive in the second overtime period, McVey said he didn’t hesitate to give the ball to Milroe, or to have him throw. The University of Texas verbal commit winged a 10-yard pass to wideout Gabe Atkin for a first down, had a quarterback draw to convert a fourth down, and another draw for the game-winning touchdown, colliding through several Eagles players for the score.

After the game is when McVey said he spoke with Milroe.

“I told Jalen I was super proud of him, the way he responded from it, because he kept playing hard,” McVey said. “He wanted the ball. I told him that the great ones want the ball back. ‘Just give me the ball,’ right?”

Milroe said that mindset—focusing on doing the next play better and putting the mistakes of the previous play behind you—is a cornerstone of the Tompkins’ approach.

“Honestly, you need to go to the next play,” he said. “That’s the key thing that we’ve been preaching each and every week as a Falcon at Tompkins. Just go on to the next play. If you have a mistake, just fix it and go on to the next drive.”

It’s a philosophy Milroe’s teammates have used as well, as senior running back R.J. Smith—who had a team-leading 155 yards on 25 carries against Cy-Falls—and senior wideout Taurean Muhammad (seven catches for 125 yards and a touchdown) have dealt with adversity of their own this season.

Smith only had a single carry in Tompkins’ first playoff game against Fort Bend Travis on Nov. 14 because of an illness. He was able to practice normally the week before the Cy-Falls game, though.

“I don’t even know what it was, I was just really sick,” said Smith, who spent the night of the Travis game in the emergency room. “I went to the doctor, though, and got it right.”

As usual, Smith downplayed his own role in the win over Cy-Falls, instead praising his offensive line and teammates. The uncommitted running back has received offers from Temple, Florida International and several other NCAA Division I programs, but he seldom talks about his own success.

“I was just hungry,” Smith said of his play against Cy-Falls. “Hungry and humble. My mindset was that my team needed me, so I was just going to come into the game and do my job to the best of my abilities.”

In a second half full of exciting back-and-forth action, Muhammad had one of the opening salvos. Two plays after a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the Eagles, he answered with a 70-yard touchdown down the sideline.

Muhammad, currently uncommitted to a college program, is also an elite sprinter, with top-five finishes in the 100 meters and 200 meters in the region.

This season has featured highs and lows for Muhammad, as he missed about a month of district games, including the yearly anticipated matchup with Katy, after straining his hamstring against Alvin on Sept. 14. However, he acknowledged that his success now is likely because of the patience he had dealing with that injury.

“The injury definitely hindered me and kept me from coming back, but my coaches and the trainers knew it wouldn’t be right for me right now,” he said, referring to coming back early. “Like, opening up right now like I did on that play, I don’t think I would have been able to do that if I didn’t hold out like I did.”

He added, “It was a blessing in disguise, and I’m glad I waited, and that we’re going on to round three as a team.”

For his part, McVey said the coaching staff no longer has to do major management when it came to the kids’ emotions and intensity. While he said they would enjoy the overtime playoff win, he didn’t anticipate needing much to get them focused for this week’s Class 6A-Division I regional semifinal against Atascocita at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 30, at NRG Stadium.

“We’re a senior-laden team, and I kind of trust our guys to get their minds right,” McVey said. “There’s times we need to refocus them a little bit, but they know, they’ve been there now. I told them, ‘Hey, you’re playoff veterans now.’”