Saturday, November 13, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Wildcats muster big finish

Late Las Vegas burst stops Silverado, 48-20

By TIM GUESMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Silverado had just returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown, and Las Vegas quickly grew concerned about its tenuous eight-point lead.

But the Wildcats didn't stress out for long. They simply went back to work, shut out the Skyhawks the rest of the way and rolled to a 48-20 victory in the Sunrise Regional semifinals on Friday night at Las Vegas.

Wildcats quarterback O'Ryan Bradley threw a 43-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, and running back Eric Jordan added the last of his three touchdown runs to spark a strong second half for fifth-ranked Las Vegas (10-2).

The Wildcats will play host to Northeast Division rival Valley in the Sunrise championship game next Friday.

Their status seemed in doubt, at least momentarily, after Jeramy Pate of Silverado (9-3) raced 88 yards with the second-half kickoff, trimming the Wildcats' 16-point halftime lead to 28-20.

"We were worried a little bit," Bradley said. "The offense was struggling a little bit to start the second half. But we came together as a team and started scoring."

Jordan said, "I just told the (offensive) line to keep it up. and we started to gain the momentum again."

Jordan powered the offense, compiling 168 yards on 22 carries, including TD runs of 15, 47 and 50 yards. Bradley had touchdown passes of 5 and 43 yards to Akeem Anifowoshe and Christian Vidal, respectively.

"The momentum switched so much in this game," Jordan said. "(Silverado) had a good defense and I tip my hat to them. We were in a scrap right up to the end."

Jordan said Las Vegas will be highly motivated against rival Valley next week.

"This is really big for us," he said. "Everybody doubted us after we lost those two games. But I think it turned out to be better for us, because we feel like we have something to prove."

The first half was full of long plays, starting when Las Vegas' Dante Fiedler returned the opening kickoff 66 yards for a touchdown. Silverado countered three plays later with a 70-yard TD run by Pate. Jordan's 15- and 47-yard runs boosted the Wildcats lead to 21-6.

After Pate's kickoff return in the third quarter, Chris Basch of Las Vegas sacked Silverado quarterback Tyyler McNeace in his end zone for a safety, and David Medrano kicked a 20-yard field goal.