Saturday, October 25, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Backup QB helps Las Vegas to victory over Desert Pines

By DAMON SEITERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Las Vegas High running back Eric Jordan is tackled by Desert Pines' Jeffrey Long in the first half Friday. Jordan finished with 240 yards and two touchdowns in the Wildcats' 36-9 victory. Photo by Steve Andrascik.

With starting quarterback and linebacker Chris Gifford sitting on the sidelines with a broken tibia, no one would have blamed Las Vegas High if it was a little shaky Friday night. But that's not the Wildcats' style.

Instead, sophomore quarterback Jeremy Craddock, who hadn't attempted a pass with the varsity team this season, completed his first seven attempts, including two for scores, as the top-ranked Wildcats (9-0, 5-0 Northeast Division) defeated eighth-ranked Desert Pines 36-9 at Las Vegas.

"We don't make excuses in our program; somebody makes results," Las Vegas coach Kris Cinkovich. "We asked our other kids to step up and show some respect to Chris Gifford, who's a tremendous competitor, and don't let get away what he's led us to so far.

"That's the theme of the rest of this deal. And our kids think that much of Chris Gifford, because he's such a winner."

Las Vegas was also helped by some early Desert Pines miscues. The first came in the final minute of the first quarter when Derek Cooper went back to punt for the Jaguars. The snap was low, and Jamal Lomax blocked the kick, with the Wildcats recovering at the Desert Pines 5-yard line.

Two plays later, Craddock hit Stanley Copeland with an 8-yard fade pass to make it 6-0.

Desert Pines then fumbled on the first play of the ensuing drive, and Keoni Viernes recovered at the Desert Pines 33. Three plays later, Craddock hit Tyrone Brandon with a 6-yard TD pass, and running back Eric Jordan's 2-point conversion made it 14-0 with 10:02 to go in the half.

Craddock, who later scored on a 2-yard TD run, finished 9-for-13 for 72 yards.

"He did exactly what we needed him to do," Cinkovich said. "He took care of the ball and made some good decisions. But his O-line helped him, because they blocked people."

Jordan helped as well. The sophomore ran for 240 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries. Jordan broke a 43-yard TD run on his second carry of the second half, then took the ball 40 yards for a score on his next carry.

"Eric got them to miss a little in the second half," Cinkovich said. "They've just got to be patient."

Las Vegas was dominant defensively, holding Desert Pines to minus-10 yards rushing. The Jaguars passed for 157 yards, 78 of it on Josh Webster's TD pass to Jonathan Stoldorf.

"Our defense, they were tuned in," Cinkovich said. "I thought everybody ran to the ball well."