Saturday, September 06, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SMALL RUNNER, BIG NIGHT: Durango whips Silverado

5-5 Kelly rushes for 203 yards, two touchdowns

By MATT YOUMANS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Durango running back Cliff Kelly is hit by Silverado's Jason Pfriender (19) in the first quarter. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

Durango running back Cliff Kelly is hard to find in the huddle, and when he gets handed the football, he easily hides behind his offensive line.

When he hits the open field, however, his presence is unmistakable. That's when Kelly turns on the speed.

Kelly, a 5-foot-5-inch, 130-pound senior, carried 26 times for 203 yards and two touchdowns in the 10th-ranked Trailblazers' 45-6 rout of Silverado on Friday night.

It was the best effort of Kelly's career, and it far exceeded his expectations.

"My goal was to get 100 yards. I'm real proud of myself right now," Kelly said. "I'm not that strong, but I'm quick."

He was also quick to credit his blockers up front. Durango's offensive line was missing four starters in a season-opening loss to Foothill, but three of them returned this week.

Senior quarterback Emilio Gonzales completed 10 of 19 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns.

Gonzales hit Brandon Graff for a 24-yard score early in the first quarter. He connected with Ryan Bird for a 70-yard touchdown in the second quarter as the Trailblazers (1-1) took a 26-0 halftime lead.

The Skyhawks (0-2) were stonewalled by the Durango defense and ran 15 plays in the first half for minus-5 yards.

They finally got on the board midway through the third quarter on a 71-yard pass from Nicholas McCombs to Larry Pabst.

But Gonzales added a 4-yard TD run and a 42-yard TD pass to Bird to make it a rout. The only score in the fourth quarter came on a 10-yard run by Kelly.

"I kind of look at it like he's on skates," Durango coach John Mausbach said. "Cliff is a slasher. He's tough to see and tough to bring down."

• Rancho 18, Cheyenne 12 -- At Cheyenne, Dale Poole scored from a yard out in overtime, lifting the Rams (2-0) over the Desert Shields (1-1).

Kicking-game breakdowns proved costly for Cheyenne. Kicker Evon Buhecker had one point-after attempt blocked, then missed wide left on another try that would have given the Shields the lead with less than five minutes to play. He also pulled a 24-yard field-goal attempt wide left with five seconds left.

Cheyenne's David Peeples rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries, but the Rams' defense controlled the second and third quarters, holding the Desert Shields without a first down while limiting Peeples to 15 yards on 10 carries in that span.

Rams tailback Bryson Beasley rushed for 90 yards on 11 carries, and Poole finished with 47 yards on 13 carries as Rancho rushed for 165 of its 192 total yards.

In overtime, Poole carried four consecutive times to put the Rams back on top.

Cheyenne immediately ran into trouble on its OT possession when quarterback Quinton Carter was flagged for intentional grounding on first down. Carter scrambled for 10 yards on third down from the 23, but his fourth-down pass for Tristan Johnson in the end zone fell incomplete.

-- Sam Waller

• Palo Verde 26, Valley 20 -- At Palo Verde, Tyree Walton logged 184 yards on 15 carries to help the third-ranked Panthers (2-0) defeat the Vikings (0-2).

Palo Verde took control early, with Walton scoring on a 62-yard sprint two minutes into the game. Teammate Justin Scheeler scooped up a Valley fumble moments later and returned it 46 yards to extend the lead to 13-0. Quarterback Jarrell Harrison's 6-yard TD run with 5:02 left in the first quarter made it 19-0 and it looked like a blowout.

But the Vikings battled back with a pair of Michael Barnes touchdown runs to make it 19-14 with 1:15 left in the half.

With time running out in the second quarter, Palo Verde answered with Harrison hitting Jamal Brumfield in the end zone on a desperation pass to extend the lead to 26-14.

The Panthers finished with 400 yards of offense, but ball-handling problems and several untimely penalties in the second half allowed Valley to close the gap to 26-20 on an 86-yard reception by Charles Jackson.

But the Palo Verde defense came up big down the stretch, holding the Vikings to nine yards in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory.

Brumfield carried the ball 14 times for 72 yards to help Palo Verde, while Matt Christman led Valley by completing 8 of 14 passes for 169 yards and and interception.

-- Jeff Wollard

• Las Vegas 56, Bonanza 40 -- At Bonanza, sophomore Eric Jordan ran for 292 yards and six touchdowns on 28 carries, leading the No. 1 ranked Wildcats (2-0) over the Bengals (0-2).

Jordan had 166 yards and four TDs in the first half. Las Vegas led 36-13 at halftime with 303 total yards.

The first time Las Vegas touched the ball was after a short punt by Bonanza. The drive went 35 yards on three Jordan runs of 9, 20 and 6 yards.

Jordan added scoring runs of 10, 8 and 7 yards in the first half. Las Vegas poured it on in the third quarter, with Jordan scoring on runs of 31 and 2 yards as the Wildcats took a 50-13 lead.

Las Vegas led 56-19 before the Bengals scored the game's final three TDs.

Bonanza's Chris Pringle caught three passes for 104 yards, including a 91-yard TD pass from Brett Parry. Pringle also had a 93-yard kickoff return for a score.

-- John Cranton

• Desert Pines 21, Western 0 -- At Western, Steve Golden rushed for 120 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Jaguars past the Warriors.

Golden scored on a 9-yard run with 5:05 left in the third quarter to put Desert Pines ahead 14-0 with 5:05 left in the second half. He added an 18-yard touchdown run on the third play of the second half.

Donte Minton rushed for 59 yards on nine second-half carries for Desert Pines (1-1).

The Jaguars defense held Western to 38 yards in the first half, and forced four turnovers in the game.

The Warriors were able to move the ball through the air against Desert Pines as they attempted to rally in the second half. Quarterback Julian Sample threw for 174 yards, with all but 11 of those coming after halftime.

Wide receiver Demario Harris finished with seven receptions for 130 yards for Western (1-1).

-- Tim Guesman

• Cimarron-Memorial 14, Coronado 6 -- At Cimarron, Chad Monrreal returned the opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown and also batted down a desperation pass in the end zone in the final minute, helping the Spartans hold off the Cougars.

Ninth-ranked Cimarron held Coronado's offense to 166 yards and sacked quarterback Andrew Hatch six times. Spartans linebacker Matt Miller had 10 tackles and three sacks.

Cimarron fullback Billy Ho added a touchdown in the second quarter, breaking several tackles on a 38-yard run.

Hatch was effective when he had time to throw. He completed 14 of 23 pass attempts for 153 yards and a touchdown.

On fourth-and-16 from the Spartans' 38 and less than a minute left, Monrreal knocked down Hatch's pass intended for Koury Fingers in the end zone.

Ho and quarterback Dylan Hinton combined for 88 yards on 11 carries. Coronado's Forrest Washington caught five passes for 97 yards.

-- Jim Godfrey

• Sierra Vista 7, Eldorado 0 -- At Sierra Vista, Chet Whitley caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Jacob Whittaker with just under eight minutes left, lifting the Lions (1-1) over the Sundevils (0-2).

Whittaker completed 7 of 18 passes for 182 yards to lead the Lions.

Sundevils defender Chris Funes recovered a fumbled screen pass on Sierra Vista's 10-yard line late in the third quarter. But Eldorado was unable to take advantage, with the drive ending in a blocked field goal.

A 30-yard pass by Eldorado's Brandon Godfrey into the end zone was batted down by the Lions as time expired.

-- Arnold Knightly

• Basic 40, Clark 0 -- At Clark, Chris Montano threw for 176 yards and three touchdowns as the fifth-ranked Wolves defeated the Chargers.

Clark (0-2) held Basic to seven points in the first quarter, but Montano connected with David Brisendine and Adrian Abril on touchdown passes in the second quarter, and A.J. Montano scored on a 7-yard run to give the Wolves (2-0) a 27-0 halftime lead.

Basic held the Chargers to just 55 yards in the first half, and Richard Brown intercepted Clark quarterback Theron Young twice in the game.

Chris Montano found Abril for a 32-yard score in the third quarter, and A.J. Montano threw a 33-yard TD pass to Daniel Bell late in the game to cap the scoring.

Kweke Garth led the Wolves with 50 yards rushing, and Sione Norsingle ran for 48 yards and a score.

Clark's Joshua Tuitele ran for 110 yards.

-- Adam Hill

• Centennial 24, Shadow Ridge 0 -- At Centennial, Humberto Marquez rushed for 265 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs routed the Mustangs.

Marquez scored on TD runs of 19 and 15 yards in the first half, and added a 71-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

The 71-yarder capped a 95-yard drive, and Aaron Prado's 2-point conversion made it 24-0 with 1:45 to play.

Centennial's defense held Shadow Ridge (1-1) to minus-17 yards rushing. Shadow Ridge gained all of its yardage in the air, as Chris Berkeley completed 25 of 40 passes for 170 yards. Troy Cummings, with 10 receptions for 74 yards, and Beau Backman, with seven catches for 56 yards, were Berkeley's primary targets.

-- Keith Freeman

• Chaparral 28, Mojave 20 -- At Mojave, Brandon Lomax rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns as the Cowboys rallied to beat the Rattlers.

Blake Mason gave Chaparral a 21-20 lead with a 2-yard TD run in the fourth quarter, and Lomax later scored from 24-yards.

Mojave quarterback Daniel Tilche threw touchdown passes of 18 and 26 yards to Phillip Gordon to give Mojave a 20-14 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Chaparral's Anthony Daforno added a 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Andre Frazier's interception with less than two minutes to play sealed the win for the Cowboys.

Robert Hill rushed for 220 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries for Mojave, despite missing most of the third quarter due to dehydration.

-- Christian Wlosczyzna

• Moapa Valley 41, Faith Lutheran 13 -- At Faith Lutheran, Zach Davis returned a fumble 55 yards for a touchdown on the game's third play to lead the Pirates (1-0) over the Crusaders (1-1).

Moapa was led by Davis, who finished with three receptions for 96 yards, four touchdowns, an interception and two fumble recoveries. He also made five of six extra points.

Two of Davis' scores came in the second quarter when he caught 29- and 18-yard touchdown passes from quarterback Jeff Bowler. Davis and Bowler connected in the fourth quarter on a 49-yard touchdown pass.

-- Steve Jones

• La Jolla Country Day (Calif.) 34, Indian Springs 6 -- At La Jolla (Calif), Alex Lewis rushed for two touchdowns and caught a pass for another score to lead the Torreys past the Thunderbirds.

La Jolla quarterback Andy Jorgensen completed 10 of 13 passes for 86 yards and three touchdowns.