Saturday, November 08, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Vidal scores four TDs, rescues Wildcats

Unsung receiver leads Las Vegas past Basic

By DAMON SEITERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Basic's Deshawn Henderson churns for a 3-yard gain in the first quarter against Las Vegas on Friday. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Missing the services of the area's leading rusher and scorer, Eric Jordan, who's out with a broken left wrist, Las Vegas High needed a new weapon to emerge on offense.

That weapon was junior receiver Christian Vidal in the quarterfinals of the Sunrise Region playoffs Friday night.

Vidal, who had only seven receptions during the regular season, caught four touchdown passes totaling 226 yards to help the top-ranked Wildcats (10-0) come back for a 40-34 home victory over sixth-ranked Basic (7-3).

Vidal caught scoring passes of 16, 63, 67 and 80 yards from sophomore quarterback Jeremy Craddock, who was making just his second varsity start.

"Christian's a good player, and he got single coverage," Las Vegas coach Kris Cinkovich said. "We haven't used him much this year. We haven't been forced to, and (Basic) forced us to. He and Jeremy made some big plays. He's a real fast kid, and he showed it tonight."

Basic led 14-7 at the half, and made it 20-7 on its first drive of the second half when Chris Montano hit brother A.J. Montano with a 14-yard touchdown pass.

But Instead of losing composure, Las Vegas went to a no-huddle offense and scored 27 unanswered points to take control. Vidal's 67-yard catch ended the scoring burst, making it 34-20 with 11:49 to play.

"(The no-huddle) got us going, finally," Cinkovich said. "We've had luck with that this year, and it got our linemen into a better rhythm. It got things going our way."

The Montanos hooked up again for Basic, with Chris throwing a 10-yard TD pass to A.J. to lift Basic to within 34-27 with 10:25 to play. But Craddock quickly found Vidal wide open for the 80-yard TD to push the lead to 40-27.

Basic's Adrian Abril had been hurt on the Wolves' offensive series, and was not on the field. The coaching staff didn't realize he was hurt, so the Wolves had 10 defensive players on the field on the long pass.

"If we get that one (play) back, it's still a tie game," Basic coach Cliff Frazier said.

Chris Montano did his best to keep the Wolves alive, hitting tight end Donny Eredia for an 11-yard TD with 4:19 to play. Basic then recovered an onside kick, but Chris Montano's scramble on fourth-and-7 was stuffed, and Las Vegas ran out the clock.

Chris Montano finished with 240 yards passing and 136 rushing. He passed for four scores and ran for one.

"I knew he wouldn't ever back down," Cinkovich said of Montano. "That kid's just a big-time winner. You knew he was going to keep bringing it. He ran the ball like he was a running back, and was running people over."

Craddock finished with 254 passing yards, and sophomore Jamal Lomax, who had carried only seven times all season, ran for 186 yards on 29 carries. Lomax had 162 yards rushing in the second half.