Las Vegas High's Daniel Durnian topples feet over head after catching a 37-yard pass in the second quarter of the third-ranked Wildcats' 21-7 victory over second-ranked Canyon Springs on Thursday night. Photo by Ronda Churchill.

With quarterback O'Ryan Bradley unable to play in the second half because of a shoulder injury, Jovan Massey and his Las Vegas High teammates knew it was time for the defense to make a statement.

"It's a whole team thing. The whole defense knew," Massey said.

Massey made the first statement, intercepting a Devonte Christopher pass and returning it 50 yards for a touchdown to break a 7-all tie, and Las Vegas went on to defeat second-ranked Canyon Springs (7-2, 4-1 Northeast) 21-7 on Thursday night at Las Vegas.

The win clinched the Northeast Division crown for the third-ranked Wildcats (8-2, 6-0).

"That was huge, because we were like in limbo," Las Vegas coach Chris Faircloth said. "You don't really know how it's going to go and how your kids (will) respond."

Bradley passed for 98 yards in the first half and accounted for the Wildcats' lone score with a 6-yard run. It was Bradley's 12th rushing TD of the season, and he has passed for 14 more this season to account for much of the Las Vegas offense.

But an injury to his throwing shoulder kept him on the sideline to start the second half, and kept the Las Vegas offense from moving the ball on its first second-half possession.

Then came Massey's interception, and the Wildcats also forced turnovers the next two times Canyon Springs had the ball to take over.

"That helped us a lot because we were struggling just to move the ball," Faircloth said. "We had to get some type of momentum. Once those things happened for us, we moved the ball a little bit and got it down the field."

Massey's score made it 13-7 with 9:03 to go in the third quarter.

Canyon Springs was moving the ball well late in the third quarter, but on third-and-3 at the Las Vegas 33-yard line, Christopher was forced out of the pocket by heavy pressure.

He threw the ball up for grabs, hoping 6-foot-4-inch Raveon Samuel would win the jump ball, but Las Vegas' Mark Brinkman tipped the ball into the air, then intercepted it at the 8.

He returned it 63 yards to the Canyon Springs 29, and three plays later Kevin Cormier scored on a 9-yard run. Brinkman's 2-point conversion run made it 21-7 with 1:03 left in the quarter.

"We knew it was going to come down to who played better defense," Faircloth said. "That's always how it comes when you have good offenses. Fortunately, we responded when our guy went down. The kids really rallied around it."

Las Vegas forced five turnovers: three interceptions and two fumbles. The Wildcats also sacked Christopher five times, four by lineman Billy Winn.

"Billy Winn was huge today," Faircloth said. "That's the kind of player he is. He's a big-time player for us."