The Falcons scored first, Dyllan Day laughed last.

Homer’s senior back of all trades ran roughshod over Thunder Mountain, scoring eight touchdowns in four different ways as the Mariners blitzed to an 84-20 win over the Falcons in a Thursday night game at TMHS.

Day scored on a fumble recovery, a punt return, a reception and five more times rushing. For good measure, he also intercepted a pass before finishing with 154 yards on 10 carries with a 42-yard scoring reception.

“My offensive line was great and I think it’s the best in the state right now,” Day said of his big day. “We started off a little slow with the fumble, and then we got our heads together and started firing on all cylinders. We started rolling, and we’re hard to stop when we’re on a roll.”

Homer rolled up 341 yards rushing and 72 more passing for 413 total yards.

Thunder Mountain took advantage of a Homer fumble on the first play from scrimmage, with Greg Gilchrest recovering the ball at the Mariners’ 18-yard line. Four plays and a flag later, Camden Thomas hit a wide-open Sam Jahn on the left hash mark for a 5-yard touchdown pass and a 7-0 lead in the opening minutes.

The Mariners countered with a 7-play, 80-yard drive, capped by a 21-yard touchdown run by Day off a pitch. David Wright ran in the two-point conversion for an 8-7 Homer lead with 7:32 left in the first quarter.

John Jolly ripped of a 31-yard run on the next play from scrimmage for the Falcons, but the TMHS offense stalled at the 41-yard line and was forced to punt.

A big sack by Conne Hoyt pushed Homer back to its own 35, but on second-and-18, Day took a pitch left and sprinted 65 yards for a 14-7 lead with 2:41 to go in the first quarter.

It was all Mariners the rest of the way.

A Thomas fumble recovered by Mark McGregor set Homer up at the Falcons’ 31, and Day again took a handoff and raced to the left pylon on the very next play for another touchdown and a 20-7 Homer lead.

The injury-depleted Falcons suffered another big blow when Jolly was hurt on a carry while TMHS was putting together a drive. Thunder Mountain was already down a running back after Jordan Hakala suffered a concussion during Week 1’s game against Juneau-Douglas. Jolly later returned — likely through necessity for the Falcons.

Thunder Mountain marched on, picking up a big 23-yard gain on a catch-and-run by Ben Jahn before eventually scoring on a quarterback keeper by Thomas from the 1-yard line, cutting the deficit to 20-14.

Thomas’ run capped a 12-play 73-yard drive by the Falcons that lasted about five minutes, but Travis Smith returned the kick off all the way to the Thunder Mountain 42-yard line.

Quarterback Robin Glosser hit Day with a short pass and he bolted 42 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the drive for a 26-14 Homer lead.

Day scored his fifth touchdown from six yards out on the next Homer drive, which went 46 yards in five plays, for a 33-14 Mariners lead after a two-point conversion by Glosser.

Villie Tupou fumbled the kick off and Day recovered it around the 23-yard line, racing for his sixth touchdown of the night and a 40-14 Homer lead with 1:56 left in the first half.

The Falcons again fumbled on their next play from scrimmage, recovered by Devon Kennelty, who then caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Glosser for a 48-14 lead after the two-point conversion.

To make matters worse, Tupou was injured with six seconds left in the first half, dealing another blow to the already injury-depleted Falcons.

“We only have a certain number of kids,” TMHS coach Bill Byouer said. “We’re getting kids in daily but they can’t play yet. And I have another six or seven injured tonight. We’ll get them healed up as quickly as possible. I don’t think they’re small injuries, but I have faith in the guys. We’ll give them (Friday) off and go from there.”

The Falcons went three-and-out to start the second half, giving Homer the ball at midfield after a punt.

A pass interference call and two carries later, including a 25-yarder by Travis Smith and a 10-yard scoring run by Hoss Frank, Homer led 56-14 after a two-point conversion catch by Erik Rosencrans.

Day then took a punt at about the 40-yard line and sprinted to pay dirt for his seventh touchdown of the game.

Day’s final score came on a 15-yard run in the third quarter.

Smith scored on a 39-yard run in the fourth quarter, and Wright capped the scoring with a 9-yard run.

Thomas finished 6 of 17 for 53 yards and one touchdown and one interception on the night. Jolly had 123 yards on 10 carries, including a 57-yard touchdown run in the final minutes to set the final score.

Byouer said it was a tough loss, but the team will get back to work for next week’s game against Nikiski at TMHS.

“I’ve never lost 84-20 but our kids never stopped. They continued to play and play hard. I’m proud of them,” he said. “Everybody says it’s a game, but it’s a little more than a game for us. We’ll bounce back.”

Homer won the JV game 52-0.

How They Scored

First Quarter

TMHS — Thomas 5 pass to S. Jahn (B. Jahn kick)

HHS — Day 21 run (Wright run)

HHS — Day 65 run (run failed)

HHS — Day 31 run (run failed)

Second Quarter

TMHS — Thomas 1 run (B. Jahn kick)

HHS — Day 42 pass from Glosser (run failed)

HHS — Day 6 run (Glosser run)

HHS — Day 23 fumble return (pass failed)

HHS — Kennelty 26 pass from Glosser (Hoss run)

Third Quarter

HHS — Hoss 10 run (Rosencrans pass from Glosser)

HHS — Day 40 punt return (run failed)

HHS — Day 15 run (Rosencrans pass from Glosser)

Fourth Quarter

HHS — Smith 39 run (run failed)

HHS — Wright 9 run (conversion good)

TMHS — Jolly 57 run (conversion failed)