Flush it.

That was Cole Francis and Tompkins message heading into this week.

Don’t think about what happened the week prior, don’t worry about the noise anywhere else, flush what happened in the past and focus on the game and day ahead of you.

“You can’t let it sit on you because if it sits on you and you think about the past then that’s all you’re going to think about,” Francis said. “We focused on just moving forward and doing what we can do. You can’t focus on what other teams can do, because you can’t control it. We have to focus on what we can control which is ourselves, and not focus on what you can’t control.”

Tompkins controlled everything on their end of things and also controlled everything on the field Thursday night, as the Falcons came away with a 52-7 win over Taylor in a District 19-6A matchup at Legacy Stadium, bouncing back from the team’s first loss of the season the previous week.

“It starts with our preparation in practice, we talked about flushing it and coming out and focusing on us. When you have a game like that before then it gives you a chance to look at yourself and see what you can do better, you learn from those things,” said Tompkins head coach Todd McVey. “The kids did a great job in practice, we talked about coming out and being strong and having high energy and keeping that throughout the game. I thought the kids did a really good job of that. That’s probably what I’m most fond of is having that complete game is the way we played for four quarters.”

Tompkins was focused from the first snap, as the Falcons forced a three-and-out to start the game and Francis hit Collin Marshall on a screen pass on the teams second play from scrimmage that the senior running back took 51 yards for a touchdown.

But it was Josh McMillan II that stole the show, on Tompkins next drive the senior scored on a 65-yard touchdown pass from Francis that would end up being his first of three touchdowns of the night, as the wide receiver also finished with a career high, 215 receiving yards.

“I take a lot of pride in being able to beat people in different ways,” McMillan said. “I’m a fast guy and I have to be fast. So, I just use that straight-line speed and I maneuver around people. I just tried to catch the ball short and then make it into a big play, you don’t have to throw me the ball deep I can break it upfield.”

Francis found McMillan for the duo’s second score of the night early in the second, as McMillan took a slant from Francis and broke it upfield for a 66-yard score. After a Tyler Collins interception, McMillan got his third on a go-route on a 48-yarder from Francis.

It was also a huge night for senior quarterback, who went 14-21, throwing 365 yards and five touchdowns in the win.

“I have all the confidence in the world with Cole throwing me the ball, “McMillan said. “Me catching for him is special, we have this bond that is unexplainable.”

Michael Whitaker III had a special moment late in the second quarter, as he broke off a 72-yard run for a touchdown, but that would end up being the Mustangs only score of the game.

Tompkins completely controlled the second half as Caleb Blocker ran in a 21-yard run in the third quarter, Francis threw a touchdown pass to Matthew Ogunrin early in the fourth quarter and Wyatt Young ran in a 49-yard score to close things out.

“It’s amazing to have all these weapons around me,” Francis said. “They try to cover one person up, but they can’t cover all of them. It’s just awesome to know that they all are going to be there for me and that wherever I look, I’m going to have someone open.”

Tompkins will take on Morton Ranch next week, while Taylor will take its six-game losing streak into a matchup with Mayde Creek. The Falcons are confident and are just looking to keep things going.

“We’re going to be where our feet are,” McVey said. “We don’t live back there in the past anymore, we learn from it but we don’t live there. When we get to Monday’s practice the kids are looking forward, and it’s like I told them, ‘we need to enjoy this journey too.’ “There’s gonna be some bumps in the road and we don’t have control over that. So, let’s control what we can control, let’s go 1-0 in everything we do and that’s what tonight was about. We went 1-0 and that was it. It was a really simple mindset and I thought the kids did a really good job of coming out and executing that.”

Tompkins 52, Taylor 7

First quarter

Tompkins: Cole Francis 51 pass to Collin Marshall (Mario Garcia kick) 8:12

Tompkins: Cole Francis 65 pass to Josh McMillan (Garcia kick) 5:56

Tompkins: Garcia 25 field goal, 1:25

Second quarter

Tompkins: Francis 66 pass to McMillan (Garcia kick) 1:58

Tompkins: Francis 48 pass to McMillan (Garcia kick) 0:25

Tompkins: Michael Whitaker 72 run (Slei Sabek kick) 0:07

Third quarter

Caleb Blocker 21 run (Garcia kick) 7:57

Fourth quarter

Francis 49 pass to Matthew Ogunrin, 7:56

Wyattt Young 49 run (Garcia kick) 5:57

Team stats

Individual Statistics

Rushing -- Tompkins: Caleb Blocker, 11-61-1; Wyatt Young, 3-57-1; Collin Marshall, 9-27; Julius Mourning, 2-6; Cole Francis, 1-7; Jace Miller, 3-4; Taylor: Michael Whitaker, 10-98-1; Chase Cobbin, 13-31; Tyler Irving, 6-27;

Passing -- Tompkins: Cole Francis 14-21-365-5-1; Taylor: Chase Cobbin, 5-9-7-0-1; Jake Webster, 3-5-28-0-1; Daniel Bruns, 0-1-0-0-0

Receiving – Tompkins:Josh McMillan, 7-215-3; Wyatt Young, 4-64; Collin Marshall, 2-54-1; Matthew Ogunrin, 1-32-1; Taylor: Dante Archie, 2-24; Alexandro Zubia, 1-6; Michael Whitaker, 3-4; Alei Sabek, 1-4; Jamon Hines, 1-(-3)