Saturday, August 30, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

PREP FOOTBALL SEASON KICKOFF: Las Vegas fends off Cimarron

Wildcats overcome early turnovers to post win in opener

By JEFF WOLLARD
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Las Vegas High School running back Ryan Meuir heads upfield during second-quarter action against Cimarron-Memorial on Friday night. The Wildcats won 20-6 in the season opener. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

The Las Vegas High School football team opened its season with a victory Friday night, but coach Kris Cinkovich walked off the field with some serious post-game concerns.

On the positive side, the Wildcats logged a 20-6 home victory over Cimarron-Memorial. But Cinkovich, whose squads have developed a reputation for being fundamentally sound, called it an ugly win.

"These kids have got to play better than that," said Cinkovich, whose team turned the ball over twice in the first quarter and three times in the game. "At times, we were good offensively, but at other times, we were a little erratic."

Erratic play caused the Wildcats to fall behind early, as a first-quarter fumble by Stanley Copeland set up a 10-yard touchdown run by Juan Ramirez that gave the Spartans a 6-0 lead.

"I think that was a slap in the face, as sloppy as we were playing," Cinkovich said.

It must have been.

Las Vegas took the lead two plays later when running back Ryan Meuir weaved his way through traffic for a 20-yard score to make it 7-6 with 11:51 left in the half.

Copeland made amends for his fumble later in the second quarter, catching a 19-yard TD pass from Chris Gifford to give the Wildcats a 13-6 halftime lead.

The lead expanded to 20-6 early in the third quarter, with Gifford again hooking up with Copeland, this time on a 35-yard pass. Copeland barely kept his feet in bounds while falling out of the end zone on the play.

Las Vegas had 251 yards of offense and held Cimarron to 151 yards.

"The first game, you just want to get out and play," Cinkovich said. "All that matters now is getting better every week."

Gifford completed 10 of 16 passes for 117 yards, and Meuir rushed for 74 yards on 12 carries.

Cimarron, which had a late drive stopped at the Wildcats' 10-yard line, was led by Andrew Smith, who caught seven passes for 103 yards.

• Centennial 30, Eldorado 24 -- At Eldorado, Aaron Prado's eight-yard pass to Brandon Alderman on the second play of overtime was the difference as the No. 8 Bulldogs beat the Sundevils.

Eldorado lost 8 yards on its four overtime plays.

Centennial had to rally after blowing a 24-12 lead. Eldorado's John Martinezjunco caught a 52-yard pass from Brandon Godfrey with 2:09 left to make it 24-18, then the duo hooked up for a tying 35-yard score with 34 seconds left. Both possessions began with Sundevil fumble recoveries.

Centennial's Terry Jones returned the opening kickoff 92 yard for a touchdown. The Bulldogs also scored on Prado's 35-yard pass to Prentyce Albright, Nicholas Moya's 32-yard field goal and Humberto Marquez's 29-yard touchdown run.

Charlton Hankston scored on 1-yard run for Eldorado, and Brandon Godfrey threw a 16-yard TD pass to Chris Sanders.

-- Keith Freeman

• Foothill 27, Durango 10 -- At Foothill, freshman DeAngelo Jones scored two touchdowns, including one on an 85-yard kickoff return, to lead the second-ranked Falcons over the 10th-ranked Trailblazers.

After Isaac Espejo recovered a fumble at the Durango 20, Jones keyed a three-play drive with a 14-yard run to the 1, then dove over on the next play for a 6-0 Foothill lead.

Durango's Traci Bechdol kicked a 25-yard field goal to make it 6-3 at the half.

Foothill broke the game open early in the third quarter when Jones took the second-half kickoff and raced down the left sideline for an 85-yard touchdown.

"I got great blocking on the play," Jones said. "The guys were pumped up on the sideline. We really needed that."

Foothill senior Marc Mattison recovered a fumble moments later at the Trailblazer 20. The drive moved backwards because of penalties and a sack, but on fourth-and-21, the Falcons faked a punt, and Mickey Beljin (6 of 9, 66 yards) connected with Alan Potter on a 31-yard scoring strike. The trick play gave Foothill a 20-3 lead with 7:46 left in the third quarter.

Durango cut it to 20-10 on a 1-yard run by Cliff Kelly. Kyle McFadden (nine carries, 48 yards) broke runs of 7, 9 and 13 yards on the drive, and Ryan Bird caught a 27-yard pass from quarterback Emilio Gonzales.

Jones (seven carries, 46 yards) iced the win with a 10-yard touchdown run with 6:16 left.

Anthony Rodriguez and Brandon Graff each had a fumble recovery for Durango.

-- John Cranton

• Green Valley 7, Bishop Gorman 0 -- At Green Valley, Barry Amisone intercepted a Steve Harris pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown with 3:43 remaining to lead the Gators to an upset of the sixth-ranked Gaels.

Gorman's last chance fell short when it couldn't convert on fourth-and-six with less than two minutes remaining.

Penalties plagued the Gaels all night. Demarco Murray broke a 72-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter, only to have it called back for holding.

Green Valley's quick defensive front overwhelmed the Gorman offensive line, never allowing Harris to get into a rhythm. Harris completed 9 of 27 passes for 94 yards and two interceptions.

Gators quarterback Lance Patonai completed 14 of 24 passes for 138 yards. Patonai connected with Soriano six times for 66 yards.

Murray led the Gorman defense with nine tackles. D.J. Senter and Murray combined for 91 yards on 19 carries.

-- Jim Godfrey

• Basic 47, Bonanza 20 -- At Basic, the No. 7 Wolves scored on their first five possessions and cruised past the Bengals.

Basic quarterback Chris Montano completed 8 of 14 passes for 212 yards, and the Wolves finished with 455 total yards. Deshawn Henderson had four receptions for 79 yards and a TD, and Richard Brown and A.J. Montano each had a rushing and receiving touchdown.

The Wolves bolted to a 20-0 lead as Chris Montano had scoring passes of 54 yards to Brown and 29 yards to Henderson in the first six minutes. A.J. Montano added a 20-yard scoring run before Bonanza finally got on the board, with Brent Parry hitting a wide-open Glen Gavin for a 69-yard TD.

Basic responded with two long scoring drives to make it 32-6 in the second quarter. The Montanos paired up for a 21-yard TD pass to cap a nine-play, 86-yard march, and Kweke Garth followed with an 8-yard run to finish a seven-play, 88-yard drive.

Bonanza posted a safety late in the half when Garth was swarmed under in the end zone.

In the third quarter, Brown scored on a 4-yard run for Basic, and Marquis Brickhouse had a 5-yard TD run for Bonanza. In the fourth, Basic's Sione Norsingle ran for a 37-yard score on his first carry, and Parry's 1-yard sneak closed the scoring.

Parry went 7 of 14 for 150 yards for Bonanza, and Tico Pringle rushed for 109 yards on seven carries. Nigel Moore accounted for 105 yards, rushing for 81 on 13 carries and catching two passes for 24.

-- Sam Waller

• Cheyenne 48, Silverado 28-- At Silverado, David Peeples ran for 177 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries as the Desert Shields defeated the Skyhawks.

Peeples scored on runs of 64, 30 and 15 yards.

The Desert Shields built a 27-point lead before the Skyhawks scored three quick touchdowns to pull within six points in the second half. Silverado's Nicholas McCombs, who completed 12 of 20 passes for 270 yards and three touchdowns, threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Spencer Armstrong to start the fourth quarter.

Roy Oliver then recovered the onside kick for Silverado, and McCombs hit Benjamin Valenzuela for a 25-yard touchdown.

Later, the Skyhawks' Dominic Cammarata scored on a 3-yard run to pull Silverado within six. But Peeples returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown giving as Cheyenne regained control.

-- Arnold Knightly

• Western 12, Valley 6 -- At Valley, Ronald Paulo recovered a lateral in the end zone with 1:52 remaining to lift the Warriors over the Vikings.

Valley quarterback Matt Christman threw a lateral to Michael Barnes that landed well behind Barnes, and Paulo jumped on it for the score.

George Bayless rushed for 38 yards for Western, and quarterback Julian Sample rushed for 31 yards and a touchdown. Fumble recoveries led to both Western touchdowns.

Major Gray rushed eight times for 54 yards for Valley, and Christman completed 8 of 11 passes for 44 yards. Darryl Charleston had a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 6.

-- Christian Wloszczyna

• Chaparral 32, Sierra Vista 0 -- At Chaparral, the Cowboys scored five first-half touchdowns in beating the Lions.

Brad Woodward passed for 114 yards and three touchdowns to lead Chaparral. He had a 61-yard touchdown pass to Kamar Bryant, a 30-yard TD pass to Jeremy Thompson and a 9-yard touchdown pass to Anthony DaForno.

Blake Mason added a 76-yard TD run to close out the scoring.

Matthew Sands-Ai rushed for 141 yards on 11 carries to pace Sierra Vista.

-- Tasha Pope

• Coronado 41, Clark 0 -- At Coronado, Andrew Hatch passed for 142 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cougars over the Chargers.

Hatch had a 20-yard TD pass to Ben Keller, a 23-yard scoring strike to Koury Fingers and a 20-yard TD pass to Chris Desjardins.

Quincy Poole added 103 yards rushing, with touchdown runs of 4 and 30 yards.

In addition to his touchdown catch, Keller also had seven tackles and a sack from his linebacker position.

• Rancho 16, Mojave 0 -- At Rancho, the Rams' stingy defense allowed just 51 yards, while their offense racked up 256 rushing yards to defeat the Rattlers.

Tramaine Stephens returned a kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown after a Rattler safety.

Bryson Beasley had 112 yards on 21 carries, and Dale Poole added 63 yards on 14 carries for the Rams.

Beasley also kicked field goals of 15 and 20 yards.

Linebacker Ryan Eliason led Rancho's defense with nine tackles.

• Shadow Ridge 65, Liberty 0 -- At Shadow Ridge, junior running back Ricky Snodrass ran for 314 yards and three touchdowns as the Mustangs dominated the Patriots in a battle of first-year schools.

Bobby Alexander rushed for 61 yards and two scores for the Mustangs, who compiled 382 rushing yards. Shadow Ridge also had help from its special teams, which added 157 yards on punt returns and hit all nine extra points.

Shadow Ridge led 49-0 at halftime and dominated defensively, holding the Patriots to 104 yards of offense.

-- Jordan Talbot

• Indian Springs 8, The Meadows 6 -- At The Meadows, Omega Faga ran for 94 yards and scored the only touchdown of the game to lead the Thunderbirds over the Mustangs.

Faga found David Oliver on a pass for the 2-point conversion for Indian Springs in the second quarter.

The Meadows scored in the fourth quarter, but failed on a 2-point conversion that could have tied the game.