Despite having to rewrite the playbook in a season marked by tragedy, the Thunder Mountain Falcons authored a storybook ending to their season Friday night at the Thunderdome: they clinched the Southeast Conference with a Glacier Bowl win on senior night.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no script, there\u2019s no playbook for something like this,\u201d TMHS head coach Randy Quinto said after the game. \u201cThey\u2019ve been resilient. I am super proud of the boys sticking together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mourning the loss of senior wide receiver and defensive back Ryan Mayhew, who tragically died Sept. 17, the Falcons beat Juneau-Douglas High School 37-0 in the last game of the season, preserving their undefeated Southeast Conference record and sending them to the state semifinals with a No. 1 seed.<\/p>\n
Seven interceptions \u2014 three by TMHS and four from JDHS \u2014 kept the game lively, but the result was a foregone conclusion by halftime when the Falcons had a 19-0 lead.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s some regret that we\u2019re not going to have any more games here, but there\u2019s also happiness that we were able to finish out the season with a win and a conference championship,\u201d senior quarterback Cale Jenkins said.<\/p>\n
Playing without junior starting quarterback Bubba Stults and effectively out of playoff contention, the Crimson Bears started sophomore quarterback Maximus Wheat, who showed some poise under center and a willingness to sling the ball. Wheat completed 12 of 29 passes for 105 yards and four interceptions.<\/p>\n
JDHS coach John Hamrick was happy to see some of his younger players see the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the main thing for these young guys,\u201d Hamrick said. \u201cNow that they have a taste of it, when we coach them, they know what we\u2019re talking about. Most importantly, they have to get in the weight room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thunder Mountain opened scoring on a 20-yard reception from junior Roy Tupou. Team-leading tackler Mahina Toutaiolepo was hurt on the opening kickoff with a leg injury and didn\u2019t return to the game.<\/p>\n
Hansel Hinckle put a sophomore shine on senior night by adding two second-quarter touchdowns, a 3-yard reception and a 70-yard interception return for a touchdown. Hinckle\u2019s pick-six deflated a JDHS drive that would have put the Crimson Bears within a touchdown at halftime.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it just boils down to our boys playing fundamental, the way they\u2019ve been taught,\u201d Quinto said. \u201cJD was able to drive the ball at times and put some plays together, but our boys were able to persevere.\u201d<\/p>\n
A field goal by exchange student Franco Vidal and scoring runs by Hinckle and Tupou in the second half capped the game. The Falcons will face Palmer in the semifinals of the medium-school state championships.<\/p>\n
\nSeniors honor \t\tlate teammate<\/strong><\/p>\n Friday\u2019s game was dedicated to Falcons senior Ryan Mayhew, who died in an accidental shooting two weeks before the Glacier Bowl. For Mayhew\u2019s 10 senior teammates, it was an emotional moment. <\/p>\n \u201cIt was really, really difficult. The seniors have all known him since we were kids. It really brought us together because we had to rally around each other. He was always cheering you on, he was never down, even when the team was losing. He loved the game,\u201d Jenkins said.<\/p>\n Riley Olsen, a senior wide receiver, said Mayhew was his best friend. After speaking with his family, Olsen donned Mayhew\u2019s No. 28 for the game, something he said brought powerful emotions and a sense of honor.<\/p>\n \u201cI talked to his mom and brother and they wanted me to wear it,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cMe and Ryan would go fishing and hunting all the time together. We started football in fifth grade. He played before me, and we played defensive back together freshman year. He was just my best friend, always fun to be around. It just really hurts me to see him go, and I am playing for him.\u201d<\/p>\n The team lit dozens of Chinese lanterns after the game in honor of Mayhew, who was remembered as a friendly, fun and positive teammate. During a point-after touchdown attempt in the first quarter, the Falcons laid Mayhew\u2019s jersey on the field where he would have lined up as placeholder. Cheerleaders and supporters wore Mayhew\u2019s No. 28 on their backs.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was very outgoing, emphasis on very,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cHe could be tough, he was talented. Seeing Riley wear his helmet and jersey, it was emotional. I thought he was Ryan every time he had the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOff the field, he was a big part of everybody\u2019s lives,\u201d Tupou said. \u201cNot just on the field, but off the field as well. He\u2019d always be there for you when you needed him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was a great teammate,\u201d Dawson Chilton said.<\/p>\n Graduating this year for the Falcons are Sami Sami, Cale Jenkins, Dawson Chilton, Dominique Maua, Dylan Chilton, Gabe Crawford, Mahina Toutaiolepo, Riley Olsen, Shannon Olmstead and Tristan Mead.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to miss them next season; they\u2019re a big part of this team,\u201d Tupou said.<\/p>\n Falcons 37, \t\tCrimson Bears 0<\/strong><\/p>\n Thunder Mountain \u2014 6 13 11 7 \u201437<\/p>\n Juneau-Douglas \u2014 0 0 0 0 \u20140<\/p>\n 1st quarter<\/p>\n TM \u2014 Tupou 20 pass (PAT no good) 10:57 <\/p>\n 2nd quarter<\/p>\n TM \u2014 Hinckle 3 pass (2pt. no good) 1:25<\/p>\n TM \u2014 Hinckle 70 interception return (PAT good) :23.6<\/p>\n 3rd quarter<\/p>\n TM \u2014 Vidal 8 kick 8:34<\/p>\n TM \u2014 Tupou 3 run (2pt. Payne) 2:25<\/p>\n 4th quarter<\/p>\n TM \u2014 Hinckle 7 run (PAT good) 9:18<\/p>\n TM, JD<\/p>\n Rushes-yds 25-164 20-47<\/p>\n Pass yds 199 105<\/p>\n Comp-att-int 13-29-3 12-29-4<\/p>\n INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS<\/strong><\/p>\n Rushing \u2014 TM: Tupou 20-138, Crawford 1-12, Hinckle 1-8, Payne 2-5, Jenkins 1-1. JD: Galletes 6-22, Wheat 6-13, Galletes-Fiagatusa 4-7, Hamrick 4-5. <\/p>\n Passing \u2014 TM: Jenkins 13-23-3\u2014199. JD: Wheat 12-29-4\u2014105. <\/p>\n Receiving \u2014 TM: Crawford 4-72, Tupou 3-43, Olsen 4-35, Mendoza 2-14, Hinckle 1-7. JD: McCurley 3-37, Schultz 3-20, Van Sickle 2-19, Galletes-Fiagatusa 4-18, Hamrick 2-14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite having to rewrite the playbook in a season marked by tragedy, the Thunder Mountain Falcons authored a storybook ending to their season Friday night at the Thunderdome: they clinched the Southeast Conference with a Glacier Bowl win on senior night. \u201cThere\u2019s no script, there\u2019s no playbook for something like this,\u201d TMHS head coach Randy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":427,"featured_media":15900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":6,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-15899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/427"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15899"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}