“We’ve really committed to getting better in practice and we’re locking in every time out,” Phillips said. “At this point our destiny is in our own hands, so we just have to keep grinding and getting after it every day."
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Wyatt Young had been anxious to get back.
The Falcons senior had been held out of the past three games as he nursed a hamstring injury, but he was pushing to get back on the field the whole time, rehabbing and doing everything he could to help the team.
Young finally got his chance to get back on the field on Friday and immediately made an impact, scoring three touchdowns and totaling 184 yards in just three quarters in a 41-20 win for the Falcons (4-3, 3-2) over Morton Ranch (1-7, 1-5) in a big District 19-6A battle.
“It was just so great to be able to go out and compete and be a part of this team,” Young said. “I’ve been waiting for this and wanting it so bad. It’s like I’m back home.”
Young ran for 83 yards while passing for 103 in the win and he got started early.
The Falcons drove straight down the field on their opening drive and Wyatt Young capped it off with a 12-yard touchdown run. After forcing a punt Tompkins came right back down the field and scored again, with Jhase McMillan taking a jet sweep 38 yards for a touchdown.
Morton Ranch fought to get back into things and trimmed the deficit to one score twice in the second quarter. Mike Gerald scored on a touchdown run from 7-yards out late in the first half but Tompkins came right back with a score of its own with a 34-yard pass from Young to Rhys Phillips. The Mavericks answered back again on a 48-yard pass from Gerald to Tyler Williams with just a minute left in the half, but Tompkins was able to increase its lead to two scores again just 20 seconds later when the Falcons hit a trick play where Dylan Rodriguez threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Adebisi Bello as Tompkins went into the locker room with a 28-14 lead.
“We’ve really committed to getting better in practice and we’re locking in every time out,” Phillips said. “At this point our destiny is in our own hands, so we just have to keep grinding and getting after it every day. That’s kind of been what our focus is and we just want to keep getting better every day.”
The Falcons kept things going in the second half. Tompkins was unable to score on its opening drive, but the teams defense stepped up to force a fumble deep in Morton Ranch territory, which the offense took advantage of with Wyatt Young finding Caleb Blocker on a pass that the running back took 22 yards tip toing on the sideline past defenders for a touchdown. The Falcons wound the clock down all second half, only allowing one score the rest of the game on a Martavian Hill 3-yard run and scoring on a fumble recovery by Preston Smith late in the game as Tompkins earned a big win and stayed with the pack in the playoff race.
The Falcons forced two turnovers in the game, with one being returned for a touchdown and they also found ways to limit Morton Ranch from explosive plays on the way to the win.
“It’s huge to get those plays and get the ball back,” said Tompkins head coach Todd McVey. “It’s a big deal for any football team because it gets you the ball back, allows you to run clock and it stops the momentum of the other guys. We did well offensively with protecting the football as well and our special teams played great, those guys did a great job and it made a difference.”
Tompkins will play Mayde Creek next as they try to bring their winning streak to four games.
“This was a great week but we can always find things to build on,” Young said. “We just have to go in, watch the film, find ways to get better, keep picking up our energy on the sidelines and supporting each other and just focus on the next game.
Tompkins 41, Morton Ranch 20
Morton Ranch |
0 |
14 |
0 |
6 |
-- |
20 |
||||||||||||||||||||
Tompkins |
7 |
21 |
7 |
7 |
-- |
42 |
First quarter
T: Wyatt Young 12 run (Williams Duncan kick) 4:23
Second quarter
T: Jhase McMillan 38 run (Duncan kick) 8:26
MR: Mike Gerald 7 run, 3:18
T: Wyatt Young 34 pass to Rhys Phillips (Duncan kick) 2:30
MR: Mike Gerald 48 pass to Tyer Williams (Gerald run) 1:07
T: Dylan Rodriguez 46 pass to Adebisi Bello (Duncan kick) 0:46
Third quarter
T: Wyatt Young 22 pass to Caleb Blocker (Duncan kick) 4:35
Fourth quarter
MR: Martavian Hill 3 run, 4:33
T: Preston Smith 30 fumble return (Duncan kick) 1:30
Team stats
Morton Ranch |
Tompkins |
|
First downs |
14 |
12 |
Yards rushing |
43-198 |
29-244 |
Yards passing |
153 |
149 |
Passes |
13-22-1-0 |
8-10-2-0 |
Punts |
2-45 |
1-42 |
Fumbles-lost |
2-2 |
0-0 |
Penalty-yards |
2-10 |
5-53 |
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Tompkins: Caleb Blocker, 19-125; Wyatt Young, 7-81-1; Jhase McMillan, 1-38-1; Morton Ranch: Mike Gerald, 17-85-1; Ryan Hall, 18-67; Martavian Hill, 8-46-1;
Passing – Tompkins: Wyatt Young, 7-8-103-1-0; Dylan Rodriguez, 1-1-46-1-0; Justin Thierheimer, 0-1-0-0-0; Morton Ranch: Mike Gerald, 13-22-153-1-0
Receiving – Tompkins: Adebisi Bello, 4-72; Rhys Phillips, 1-34-1; Caleb Blocker, 2-34-1; KJ Madison, 1-9; Morton Ranch: Tyler Williams, 5-84-1; Martavian Hill, 5-40; Markel McNeal, 1-13; Noah Lopez, 1-11; Kelvin Malone, 1-5;