Coronado running back Marcus Garcia (22) propels himself into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown in the Cougars' home game against Green Valley on Thursday night. Garcia's TD helped the Cougars take a 21-9 lead in the first half, but Green Valley rallied for a 31-28 victory. Photo by Ruben D. Luevano.
Strictly for incentive, Green Valley might want to plant a member of Chris Nader's family on the opposing sideline every week.
Nader caught six passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns in Green Valley's 31-28 comeback victory at Coronado on Thursday night.
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Nader's cousin is Cougars wide receiver/defensive back Anthony Daccache.
"My cousin is on that team and they have beaten us a couple times, so I wanted to win in their house so bad," Nader said.
The Gators wide receiver did most of his damage in the first half, catching five passes and both of his touchdowns and also carrying once for 25 yards.
Despite his efforts, Green Valley (3-1, 1-0 Southeast Division) found itself trailing 28-17 and having to punt on the first play of the fourth quarter. But Coronado (0-4, 0-1) muffed the punt and it was recovered by Green Valley's Anthony Roach at the Cougars' 37-yard line.
"We were just looking to battle at that point," Green Valley coach Matt Gerber said. "The kids really showed a lot of heart."
The Gators took advantage of the field position, with Kalin Beal finding Cody Aughney for a 15-yard touchdown pass. Frank Satterfield ran for the 2-point conversion to cut Coronado's lead to 28-25.
After a Coronado three-and-out and punt, the Gators drove right downfield and Satterfield ran in the winning touchdown from 15 yards to cap a 53-yard drive with nine minutes left.
"This is a win that will help us throughout the season," Nader said. "We will have it in our minds that we are never out of a game and we always have a chance to win."
Jessie Lewis carried 33 times for 130 yards and two scores, both in the first half, to spark the Cougars. Marcus Garcia also had a touchdown run in the second quarter for Coronado, helping the Cougars open a 21-9 lead.
But Nader jump-started Green Valley's rally with 20 seconds left in the half on a 59-yard touchdown reception from Mark McGovern.
McGovern threw for 80 yards for the Gators and Beal passed for 161 yards and two scores in Green Valley's two-quarterback system.
Brady McManus was 11 of 22 for 159 yards for the Cougars.
• Cimarron-Memorial 27, Shadow Ridge 0 -- At Cimarron-Memorial, quarterback Chazz Mitchell rushed for 110 yards and three touchdowns to lead top-ranked Cimarron-Memorial past the No. 7 Mustangs.
The Spartans' ground game was the difference, compiling 325 yards and four touchdowns. Mitchell had scoring runs of 7, 10 and 1 yards, and backup QB Joe Zikakis scored on a 1-yard run on the final play.
Eddie Wide topped Cimarron (5-0, 2-0 Northwest) with 111 yards on 22 carries, and Eric Brinkley added 77 yards on 11 runs.
Shadow Ridge (3-2, 1-1) managed only 144 total yards, 71 on the ground. Quarterback Chris Lowman completed 7 of 17 passes for 73 yards and was intercepted once, with Darius Hogans returning it 61 yards to set up a touchdown.
The Spartans have outscored their last three opponents by a combined 107-12.
-- Sam Leeper
• Silverado 38, Basic 14 -- At Basic, Kevin Rath rushed for two touchdowns and passed for another to help the third-ranked Skyhawks defeat the Wolves.
Basic scored first, capitalizing on a Silverado fumble and scoring on a 1-yard run by L.J. Marquez. But the Skyhawks (4-0, 1-0 Southeast) answered on their next drive, tying it at 7 on a 5-yard run by Rath.
Jimmy Mitchell put Silverado ahead 15-7 with a 67-yard reception late in the first quarter, and second-quarter scoring runs by Kolton Villa and Rath handed the Skyhawks a 32-7 halftime lead.
Basic (1-3, 0-1 Southeast) opened the second half with a 15-play drive, scoring on a 13-yard pass from Daniel Dir to Greg Henderson. But Silverado again answered, putting the game out of reach with a 16-yard TD run by Henry Weeks.
Rath rushed 10 times for 91 yards while completing 4 of 11 passes for 138 yards. Weeks had three catches for 71 yards.
-- Jeff Wollard
• Las Vegas 35, Desert Pines 21 -- At Desert Pines, the Wildcats (3-2, 1-0 Northeast) forced four turnovers and rode the passing of O'Ryan Bradley to beat the Jaguars (2-2, 0-1).
Las Vegas led 21-0 at halftime and pushed its margin as high as 35-7 midway in the fourth quarter.
Bradley's 53-yard pass to Kevin Cormier set up a short score in the second quarter to give Las Vegas a 14-0 lead. Bradley found Carlos Castanada for a 10-yard touchdown on the Wildcats' next possession.
The Wildcats nearly had a fourth touchdown in the first half when Jovan Massey fielded a short field-goal attempt by Desert Pines and returned the ball 97 yards to the Jaguars' 1-yard line on the half's final play.
Desert Pines was led by running back Michael Ball, who finished with 162 yards on 25 carries.
-- David Garrett
• Del Sol 39, Liberty 18 -- At Del Sol, Timothy Johnson sparked a second-half offensive explosion as the Dragons beat the Patriots.
Trailing 18-14 at the half, Johnson broke off touchdown runs of 65 and 52 yards, and junior Bryan Grenier added two more scores for Del Sol (3-2, 1-0).
Liberty (2-2, 0-1) carried momentum into halftime, with Garrick Powell scoring on a 28-yard run with 33 seconds remaining.
But Del Sol's defense set the tone in the second half, shutting out the Patriots and intercepting Alan Wenger twice.
-- Nathan Stuck
• Spring Valley 21, Durango 7 -- At Durango, Eric Dyer had 112 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries to guide the Grizzlies over the Trailblazers.
Dyer's 37-yard sprint to the end zone on the game's second offensive play set the tone for Spring Valley (4-1, 2-0 Southwest). His 28-yard run on the Grizzlies' second possession set up Stefan Klein's 1-yard TD run that made it 13-0.
Spring Valley also forced five turnovers, limiting Durango opportunities. Corbin Brown made two interceptions, and Brandon Weisenburger's interception and 50-yard return for a score late in the third quarter pushed Spring Valley's lead to 21-7.
Michael Mausbach powered the offense for Durango (2-3, 0-2), rushing for 73 yards on 13 carries. Quarterback Nick Butera had the Blazers' only score, a 4-yard run midway in the second quarter.
Durango's defense came up with four turnovers, led by Sean Small with an interception and fumble recovery.
-- Tim Guesman
• Western 50, Clark 7 -- At Clark, Western's James Smith threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kolin Niday in the first quarter and the Warriors (2-3, 2-0) rolled over the Chargers (0-4, 0-2).
Western running back Reggie Bullock compiled 156 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, and Dejon Hall added 114 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Quarterback James Smith passed for 75 yards and two scores.
For Clark, Chase Marquadt passed for 27 yards and a touchdown. The score was set up by Kevin Shaw's 79-yard interception return to the Western 12-yard line.
-- Brian Danise
• Bishop Gorman 56, Bonanza 8 -- At Bonanza, the Gaels (2-2, 1-0 Southwest) scored twice on their first three plays from scrimmage and coasted past the Bengals (1-4, 0-2).
Gorman junior running back Keola Antolin rushed for 177 yards and three touchdowns on six carries. Senior Cory White ran for two scores, and senior quarterback Dylan Barrera threw for two, connecting with junior Trey Mays and senior Drew Bernhardy.
Senior quarterback Dan Huff ran in from 12 yards for Gorman's final score. Kicker Michael Levine made eight of eight extra-point attempts.
Bonanza's score came on a 2-yard run by senior Garrett Hammack, set up by a 55-yard pass from junior Rakim Lowe to senior Geoffrey Moore.
-- Jeff Hoskin
• Sierra Vista 30, Rancho 0 -- At Sierra Vista, the Lions (4-0) scored on all five of their first-half possessions and breezed past the Rams (0-4).
Senior running back Brad Blankenship rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries. Chris Condos kicked a 36-yard field goal and Joe White caught an 11-yard pass from Chris Krumme to round out the scoring.
Rancho was limited to 64 total yards, with DeShawn Stewart rushing for 24 and James Cammack for 21.
-- Brent Kircher
• Mojave 31, Arbor View 8 -- At Mojave, senior Chad Kelly passed for 196 yards in the first half, and fullback Justin Armstrong scored on two 1-yard runs, guiding the 10th-ranked Rattlers (4-1, 1-0 Northwest) past the Aggies (1-4, 0-1).
Kelly connected with senior Kris Salvador for a 67-yard touchdown on the game's first play, then Mojave quickly scored again on Jason Jones' 60-yard interception return -- one of four pickoffs by the Rattlers.
Mojave controlled the second half with a balanced running attack, led by Deandre Taylor, who scored on a 13-yard run and finished with 76 yards on the ground.
Arbor View scored in the fourth quarter on a 25-yard touchdown pass from Dustin Hobbs to Anthony Windom.
Windom led the Aggies with 97 receiving yards, and junior Greg Gloria had a game-high 80 rushing yards.
-- Jeff Lukich
• Canyon Springs 34, Eldorado 13 -- At Eldorado, Devonte Christopher passed for three touchdowns and ran 15 yards for another, leading the Pioneers (2-1, 1-0 Northeast) over the Sun Devils (0-3, 0-1).
Two of Christopher's TD passes went to wideout Raveon Samuel for 45 and 39 yards.
Eldorado was hindered by penalties at critical times and struggled to get key first downs. Two potential scoring drives were derailed by lost yardage or penalties. Sun Devils QB Nick Tate passed for 137 yards and rushed for 73.
Canyon Springs took control in the first half, scoring on a 98-yard drive that featured consecutive runs of 14, 10 and 16 yards by Timothy Hicks.
Eldorado's biggest moment came in the first quarter when Avant Gates bolted 63 yards for a touchdown.
-- Gabe Whetten
• Chaparral 25, Valley 21 -- At Valley, Jamell Mingo returned a Vikings fumble 47 yards and scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper eight plays later for the Cowboys' go-ahead touchdown with 2:51 remaining.
Chaparral (2-2, 1-0 Northeast) then held off a final Valley charge, recovering a fumble on its own 1-yard line with 38 seconds to play.
Despite Valley's strong defensive effort in the second half, the Vikings were twice drawn offside on fourth down to extend the Cowboys' go-ahead drive.
Trailing 25-21, the Vikings (0-4, 0-1) marched deep into Cowboys territory, but quarterback Josiah Casella fumbled on an apparent touchdown run. Chaparral took possession at the 1-yard line and ran out the clock.
Chaparral's Mingo rushed for 56 yards and passed for 92, including a 78-yard TD bomb to Darius Stewart on the third play of the game. Stewart finished with four receptions for 129 yards.
JaCory Hawkins rushed for 130 yards for Valley, and Casella threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another.
