Saturday, September 11, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

DEFENSE WINS: Green Valley fends off Durango

Gators make key defensive stands

By TIM GUESMAN
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Green Valley's Brian Wiltshire, left, gets tripped up by Durango's Eric Barnes after rushing for a first down in the fourth quarter of the Gators' 20-0 victory over the Trailblazers on Friday night. Photo by Ralph Fountain.

With less than a minute left in the first half, Durango appeared ready to break a scoreless deadlock in its home game against unbeaten Green Valley.

But as was the case all night Friday, the Gators came up with a big defensive play at a key moment to thwart the host Trailblazers on their way to a 20-0 victory.

On third-and-goal at the 1, Green Valley defender Jacob Martinez powered inside and grabbed Durango quarterback Jake Butera before he could hand off, causing a fumble that Anthony Giglioli recovered for the Gators at the 5.

That left the game scoreless at halftime, and Green Valley's defense preserved the shutout while its offense got on track in the second half.

"They aren't the biggest group, but they are very scrappy," Green Valley coach Greg Murphy said of his defense. "We had to overcome some adversity tonight -- more than I would like -- and I don't think we were as focused as we should have been in the first half.

"But we ground it out in the second half."

Green Valley (3-0) did that on both sides of the ball.

Jeff Garcia, who rushed for 105 yards on 16 carries, had the first score of the game on a 23-yard touchdown run with 6:05 left in the third quarter, capping a 10-play, 80-yard drive.

Jairus Howard, who had 110 yards on 21 carries, added a 9-yard scoring run with 10:19 left in the game. After a slow start in the first half, the Gators' backfield tandem combined for 142 yards rushing in the second half.

Durango's Alejandro Bravo racked up 91 yards on 16 carries in the first half. But when Green Valley's defense stiffened in the second half, they cut down Bravo's effectiveness, holding him to 8 yards on six carries. Bravo finished with 99 yards to lead the Blazers (0-2).

Green Valley held Durango to minus-17 yards in the second half and 88 in the game. The Gators also overcame an interception and two fumbles to preserve the shutout.

A fumble on a Durango punt that Green Valley muffed at its 17-yard line with 2:09 left in the second quarter initially looked costly. That set up Durango's drive to the Gator 1 before Martinez came up with the big hit that forced the fumble and kept the Trailblazers from scoring.

"I just shot the gap right away and grabbed him," said Martinez, who also had two sacks. "The whole game, our defense just stepped up and made the plays."

• Foothill 26, Sierra Vista 20 -- At Foothill, D'Angelo Jones threw for a touchdown and rushed for 174 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries, helping the fourth-ranked Falcons (3-0) hold off a late charge from the Lions (2-1).

Sierra Vista's Jake Whittaker found T.J. Chapel from 26 yards out to cut the Falcons' lead to six midway through the fourth quarter. But the Lions were unable to get another shot offensively.

The Falcons gained 306 yards rushing.

The Lions took the opening drive deep into Foothill territory, but running back Steven Hill fumbled at the 3-yard line, and the ball was recovered by the Falcons in the end zone. Hill finished with 102 yards on 13 carries.

Foothill took the turnover and drove 80 yards for a touchdown, capped by quarterback Arthur Mayville's 1-yard dive. Mayville finished with 75 yards on 14 carries, including a 68-yard run on the Falcons' first play.

The Lions had another scoring opportunity snuffed out by a turnover at the start of the second quarter, when running back Jeff Long fumbled at the Foothill 13-yard line.

Jones hit Michael Stokes in the corner of the end zone from 3 yards out to give Foothill a 13-0 lead midway through the second quarter.

Stokes added a 22-yard touchdown run to give the Falcons a 19-6 lead at halftime.

Jones' 33-yard touchdown run came on the Falcons' opening drive of the second half put Foothill up 26-6.

Whittaker went 10-for-17 for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Stacy Martin had eight catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Hill finished with 102 yards on 13 carries for the Lions, and Long added 97 yards.

-- Jim Godfrey

• Las Vegas 49, Bonanza 20 -- At Las Vegas, Eric Jordan ran for 289 yards on 13 carries and scored four touchdowns in three quarters of work to lead the top-ranked Wildcats (3-0) over the Bengals (1-2).

Jordan scored the first two touchdowns of the game on runs of 79 and 65 yards to give Las Vegas a 14-0 lead.

Bonanza cut the lead to 14-7 on a 3-yard run by Brett Parry with 1:12 left before halftime. On the second play of the ensuing possession, Jordan broke over the right side and ran 75 yards to score with 17 seconds left and put the Wildcats back in control.

Following a 70-yard kick return to start the second half, Jordan scored again on a 25-yard run on the first play to put the game out of reach.

Las Vegas also scored on a 1-yard run by Xavier Cleveland and an 11-yard run by Jamal Lomax. Michael Sanchez returned a fumbled kickoff 15 yards for the Wildcats' final score.

The Bengals were led by quarterback Brett Parry, who completed 11 of 15 passes for 122 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown to Marquese Brickhouse in the third quarter.

-- Arnold Knightly

• Palo Verde 47, Western 7 -- At Palo Verde, the second-ranked Panthers scored on every possession in the first half in rolling over the winless Warriors (0-3).

The Panthers scored touchdowns on drives of 83, 76, 46 and 56 yards on their way to a 34-0 halftime cushion. However, it was the Palo Verde defense that opened the scoring, as Gary Boubon intercepted a Julian Sample pass and raced 39 yards for the TD.

Palo Verde quarterback Jarrell Harrison threw for a score and ran for another, and Marc Evans and Drew McDaniel added rushing touchdowns. Western only got as far as its own 36-yard line and managed just one first down in the opening half.

The Warriors' lone score came on a 1-yard sneak by Sample early in the fourth quarter. Anthony Smith finished the Palo Verde scoring with a 5-yard run with 7:41 remaining.

Evans had 12 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns. The Panthers outrushed Western, 206-55.

-- Sam Leeper

• Silverado 32, Chaparral 7 -- At Chaparral, Jeramy Pate rushed for two touchdowns, and the Skyhawks (2-0) forced three turnovers in rolling past the Cowboys (1-2).

Pate had touchdown runs of 3 and 2 yards, finishing with 66 yards on 14 carries.

Silverado took a 6-0 lead on a Jesse Benites 1-yard run late in the first quarter, but Chaparral answered with an 82-yard drive, capped by Javier Gonzalez's 21-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Robinson.

The Cowboys held Silverado on the next possession, forcing a turnover on downs on the Chaparral 6-yard line, but Gonzalez was then intercepted by Kyle Rath.

Pate scored his first touchdown on the next play, and Chaparral fumbled the kickoff, giving the Skyhawks the ball on the Cowboys 34.

Benjamin Valenzuela's 25-yard touchdown run on a reverse gave Silverado a 20-7 halftime lead.

Pate added his second touchdown on a 2-yard run with 10:36 left in the fourth, and Ezequiel Rodriguez added a 27-yard touchdown run with 36 seconds left.

-- Christian Wloszczyna

• Valley 29, Mojave 21 -- At Mojave, the Vikings had two interceptions and a safety in the second quarter en route to the victory over the Rattlers (0-2).

Both interceptions resulted in Valley touchdowns, as the Vikings (1-1) took a 14-7 halftime lead.

The first came on an 11-yard pass from Matt Christman to Jarrell Hawkins. Christman added a 23-yard TD pass to David Sosa in the first half, and passed for two more scores in the third quarter.

He finished 12 of 30 for 173 yards. Hawkins caught two TD passes, and Sosa finished with seven catches for 83 yards.

Adrian Shields ran for 92 yards, and Major Gray added 83 yards rushing for Valley.

Mojave quarterback D.J. Tilche passed for 214 yards and a touchdown, but he was intercepted three times.

-- Jeff Hoskin

• Eldorado 54, Coronado 21 -- At Eldorado, the No. 7 Sundevils scored twice in the final minute of the second quarter, breaking open a 7-7 game and pulling away to defeat the Cougars.

Eldorado (2-1) forced Coronado to punt with a minute left in the second quarter. The Sundevils took over at the Cougars 42-yard line. Brandon Godfrey connected with Edward Jackson on a 23-yard pass, then the two hooked up on the next play for a 19-yard touchdown with 48 seconds left in the quarter.

On Coronado's ensuing drive, LuQris Thompson intercepted a Scott McLeod pass and ran 35 yards down the left sideline to the Cougars 7-yard line. Godfrey ran the ball in on the next play to give Eldorado a 20-7 halftime edge.

Eldorado kept it going in the second half, ultimately scoring 47 consecutive points after Coronado (1-2) had taken a 7-0 lead on a 25-yard second-quarter run by Christopher Desjardins.

-- Adam Hill

• Cheyenne 34, Basic 6 -- At Cheyenne, running back Torrie Coleman ran for 248 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Desert Shields (1-0) past the Wolves (0-2). Coleman scored on runs of 3, 34 and 52 yards.

Cheyenne's Jarrell Holman had a 62-yard interception return for a touchdown late in the first half.

Basic broke the shutout on the final play of the game when quarterback Kenny Ward scooped up a fumble and dove in from a yard out.

-- John Cranton

• Boulder City 49, Liberty 14 -- At Liberty, the Eagles rolled up 388 yards on the ground and scored on their first six possessions to rout the Patriots.

Jeff Pickton scored on a 73-yard run for Boulder City (1-0) on the first play from scrimmage. Pickton also ran for a 12-yard touchdown in the second quarter and finished with 190 yards rushing on nine carries.

Mitch Barlow added 113 yards on 12 carries, scoring on runs of 10 and 45 yards. Barlow also returned a punt 45 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Liberty (1-1) scored late in the third quarter when Blake Niggemeier connected with Clark Mathis for an 11-yard touchdown. Niggemeier and Mathis hooked up again in the fourth quarter for a 76-yard touchdown.

Niggemeier finished with 168 yards passing.

-- James Soller

• Shadow Ridge 41, Canyon View (Utah) 6 -- At Canyon View, Ricky Snodgrass ran for 125 yards and a pair of touchdowns to lead the 10th-ranked Mustangs (2-0) to the victory.

Shadow Ridge quarterback Chris Berkeley completed 12 of 15 passes for 191 yards and three scores. Troy Cummings caught seven passes for 111 yards, including a 61-yarder for a touchdown.

• Del Sol 28, Spring Valley 0 -- At Del Sol, linebackers Evan Faircloth and Johnny Garcia combined for 22 tackles and two sacks to lead the Dragons (1-2) over the Grizzlies (0-2).

Quarterback Brandan Makridis led Del Sol offensively, passing for 146 yards and two third-quarter touchdowns.

• St. Bonaventure (Calif.) 50, Centennial 14 -- At St. Bonaventure, Matt Lee ran for 180 yards and three touchdowns to lead St. Bonaventure (2-0) over the ninth-ranked Bulldogs (1-1).

Lee had a 62-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage, and St. Bonaventure never trailed.

Alex Toney ran for 120 yards and two TDs, including an 80-yard scoring run, for Centennial.

• Canyon Springs 14, Meadows 12 -- At The Meadows, Dennis Parker scored on a 75-yard run in the first quarter and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Williams in the fourth quarter as the Pioneers (2-0) edged the Mustangs (0-3).

Jordan Kelley passed for 199 yards, including a 78-yard TD pass to Greg Maggiore in the second quarter, to lead The Meadows. Kelley also had a 19-yard TD pass to Maggiore, who caught four passes for 121 yards.

-- Kathy Burchick

• Pahrump Valley 63, Lincoln County 6 -- At Pahrump, Kyle Floyd had 20 carries for 233 yards and six touchdowns to lift the Trojans (1-1) over the Lynx (0-3).

Floyd scored on runs of 32, 10, 60, 8, 65 and 7 yards.

• Virgin Valley 40, Hurricane (Utah) 13 -- At Mesquite, Brock Francis rushed for 111 yards, including a 72-yard TD run, to lead the Bulldogs past Hurricane (0-4).

Tyler Thurston passed for 181 yards and two TDs, and he also had a 1-yard touchdown run for Virgin Valley (2-1).