Shadow Ridge running back Tavis Brown fights for yardage as he is tackled by a group of Cheyenne defenders led by linebacker Jesse Swan (1) on Friday night in the Mustangs' 13-6 victory. Photo by Ralph Fountain.
After being held scoreless during the first half of its last two games, Shadow Ridge knew it was important to get off to a fast start against No. 6 Cheyenne, which had averaged more than 33 points in its three victories.
The Mustangs did start fast, scoring 13 points in the first quarter, but needed a strong finish from their defense to secure a 13-6 victory over visiting Cheyenne on Friday night.
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Shadow Ridge (4-2, 2-1 Northwest) got two 31-yard field goals from Oswaldo Rojas and a 3-yard touchdown run by Tavis Brown in the opening period on homecoming night.
"We really needed a fast start," Mustangs coach J.D. Johnson said. "Against a team like Cheyenne with all of that talent, we had to score points early to put the pressure on them."
Still, Cheyenne (3-2, 1-1) had three chances to tie the game in the fourth quarter.
The Desert Shields twice took possession at the Shadow Ridge 15, thanks to a pair of Chris McMillian fumbles. Both times, the Shadow Ridge defense stiffened and Cheyenne came away with no points.
On the Desert Shields' final opportunity, set up by a 26-yard punt return by D.J. Campbell, they started from their own 30.
Cheyenne drove to the Mustangs 21 behind a fourth-down pass from Campbell to Marcus Sullivan and Campbell's 33-yard scamper. But Gabryn Toney intercepted Campbell two plays later to preserve the victory.
"I challenged my defense to rise to the occasion," said Johnson, whose team stopped Cheyenne on 20 plays of 1 yard or less. "Campbell did break that one late, but for the most part we held them in check. Last week, we didn't stop the run, and we certainly played better (Friday)."
Campbell and Anthony Johnson, who both rushed for more than 100 yards last week against Foothill, were held to a combined 38 yards Friday.
Cheyenne was held to 112 yards of total offense, including 62 yards rushing on 32 carries.
"This was a hard-fought game," Johnson said. "We played really well in the beginning, with the 13 points. However, we didn't score again and if we have playoff hopes, we can't have those types of scoring droughts."
• Silverado 48, Coronado 35 -- At Silverado, Kevin Rath passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more to help the Skyhawks roll over the Cougars.
Silverado (5-0, 2-0 Southeast) capitalized on two first-quarter Coronado turnovers, grabbing a 21-0 lead on Rath's 8-yard pass to Jimmy Mitchell and scoring runs by Rath and Telvin McMillian.
The Cougars (0-5, 0-2) blocked a Skyhawks punt early in the second quarter and took advantage by scoring on a 6-yard run by Derek Eamon.
But Silverado took a 24-7 lead into halftime after answering with a 34-yard Richard Arguello field goal.
Third-quarter touchdown runs by Rath and Mitchell expanded the lead to 41-7, allowing the Skyhawks to go to their bench. Devon Williams added a touchdown late in the quarter to put things out of reach.
The Cougars got late TD runs from Eamon and Jonathan Howes and two scoring passes from reserve quarterback Tyler Newton to Taylor Knowles.
Rath completed 6 of 13 passes for 114 yards for Silverado, which gained 445 yards.
Newton led Coronado, competing 5 of 7 passes for 76 yards and two TDs.
-- Jeff Wollard
• Cimarron-Memorial 65, Bonanza 0 -- At Bonanza, the No.1-ranked Spartans rolled up 476 yards of offense -- all on the ground -- in a rout the Bengals.
Fullback Eric Brinkley led Cimarron (6-0) with seven carries for 145 yards and four touchdowns, all in the first half, to power the Spartans to a 51-0 halftime lead.
Brandon Marshall added two scores, including a 69-yard run early in the second quarter.
Jay Pappas added 128 rushing yards and a score for Cimarron, which had seven runs of 20 or more yards.
The Spartans' defense limited Bonanza to 18 yards rushing and 122 yards overall. Cimarron forced three turnovers that led to 21 points, including a second-quarter interception by Donnie Butler that he returned 69 yards.
Wideout Reggie Davis had 10 receptions for 84 yards for the Bengals (1-5).
-- Tim Guesman
• Canyon Springs 27, Green Valley 0 -- At Canyon Springs, Devonte Christopher passed for 192 yards and two touchdowns and DeCasio Collins rushed for two touchdowns as the Pioneers (4-1) rolled past the Gators.
Collins scored from 6 yards out on the Pioneer's first possession and Christopher connected with Greg McWilliams on a 35-yard score for a 13-0 lead.
The Canyon Springs defense intercepted Green Valley (3-2) twice in the first quarter.
Collins added a 13-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, finishing with 134 yards on 13 carries.
Juron Criner added a 62-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring for the Pioneers.
Criner had four receptions for 99 yards for Canyon Springs.
-- Christian Wloszczyna
• Liberty 35, Basic 13 -- At Liberty, Garrick Powell rushed for three touchdowns and Michael Norris intercepted three passes as the Patriots defeated the Wolves on homecoming night.
The Patriots (3-2, 1-1 Southeast) scored 28 consecutive points in the second half, capitalizing on several Basic miscues.
Powell led the team with 146 yards on 22 carries, scoring from 2, 59 and 5 yards.
Powell's night did not start well. He lost three fumbles, prompting a third-quarter benching for one series.
On the Patriots' next possession, Powell broke a 59-yard touchdown run that put Liberty ahead, 14-13.
Norris and the defense helped protect the lead. The senior returned one of his interceptions 24 yards for a touchdown.
Basic (1-4, 0-2) was led by L.J. Marquez, who had 55 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
-- Joshua Wikler
• Bishop Gorman 45, Durango 14 -- At Valley, Dylan Barrera threw four touchdown passes for the Gaels (3-2, 2-0 Southwest), who put away the Trailblazers (2-4, 0-3) with 28 consecutive points over the final two quarters.
Barrera tossed touchdown passes of 27, 58, 20 and 55 yards, finishing 9-for-11 for 260 yards with one interception.
Gorman's Corey White ran for 125 yards on 20 carries, Keola Antolin gained 119 yards on 10 carries, and Beau Orth had two touchdown catches.
Ryan Kuehl led the Trailblazers with 107 yards on 16 carries.
Durango's two scores came on an 84-yard kickoff return by Geremy White in the first quarter and a 25-yard halfback pass from Joseph Baraga to Charles White on fourth down in the second quarter.
-- Jimmy Humm
• Desert Pines 28, Chaparral 13 -- At Desert Pines, tailback Michael Ball ran for 223 yards and three touchdowns to carry the Jaguars over the Cowboys.
Ball and Joshua Williams, who had 108 yards receiving and a touchdown, accounted for 331 of the Jaguars' 348 yards of offense.
Chaparral (3-2, 2-0 Northwest) nearly matched Desert Pines with 344 yards of offense, but the Cowboys saw first-half drives stall at the Jaguars 26-, 12- and 5-yard lines.
Ball had no trouble finishing off drives, scoring on runs of 41, 20 and 5 yards. A 52-yard rushing touchdown by Ball was negated by a holding penalty.
-- David Garrett
• Valley 48, Rancho 13 -- At Eldorado, the Vikings (1-4, 1-1 Northeast) took advantage of several miscues, including two fumbled punt snaps, to defeat the Rams (0-4, 0-1)
Jeremiah Casella passed for 124 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Vikings' offense. Casella had TD passes of 13 and 25 yards to Ronnie Potts and also had a 13-yard TD pass to Jelanie Fuquay. Casella also had a 3-yard TD run.
JaCory Hawkins added two TD runs for Valley, which led 35-6 at the half.
Omari Stephens had a 4-yard TD run for Rancho. The Rams recovered a fumble in the end zone for their other score.
-- Jeff Hoskin
• Centennial 34, Mojave 12 -- At Centennial, quarterback Michael Tagliaferri had a 5-yard touchdown run on the opening drive and the special teams came up big to help the Bulldogs (3-3, 1-2 Northwest) win their homecoming game.
Quarterback Chad Kelly scored on a 1-yard run to bring the Rattlers (4-2, 1-1) within one point, then the Centennial special teams took over.
The Bulldogs blocked an extra-point attempt that would have tied the game, and Nick Peterson returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to extend the lead to 14-6. Matt Holley then blocked a Mojave punt on the following drive to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Adrian Romero.
Torrence Whalum added a 6-yard touchdown run to give Centennial a 28-6 halftime lead.
-- Adam Berchin
• Las Vegas 42, Eldorado 0 -- At Las Vegas, O'Ryan Bradley rushed for 153 yards and threw for 87 more as Las Vegas (4-2) cruised past Eldorado (0-5).
Eldorado's defense was tough early but simply couldn't stop Bradley or tailback Jason Theard, who added 131 yards rushing and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard run late in the first quarter.
The Wildcats' defense was as dominating as their offense, limiting Eldorado to just 24 total yards.
-- Nathan Stuck
• Spring Valley 46, Clark 7 -- At Spring Valley, Stefan Klein rushed for two touchdowns in the first quarter to lead the 10th-ranked Grizzlies (5-1, 3-0 Southwest) over the Chargers (0-5, 0-3).
The Spring Valley defense intercepted four Chase Marquadt passes and returned two for touchdowns, one by Talmaus Ewell for 76 yards and another by Jermaine Hall for 44 yards. Ewell also returned a kickoff 79 yards for a touchdown.
-- Brian Danise
• Palo Verde 41, Arbor View 28 -- At Arbor View, Eric Hearn rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Panthers (4-1, 2-1 Northwest) past the Aggies (1-5, 0-3).
Hearn's 2-yard touchdown run broke a 28-28 tie in the fourth quarter. Rockney Ricafrente added a 9-yard touchdown run, and the Palo Verde defense sealed the win with a late interception by David Griffin.
-- Gabe Whetten
• Faith Lutheran 31, Virgin Valley 15 -- At Faith Lutheran, Stephen McCall returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown to start the second half as the Crusaders (2-3, 1-0 3A Southern League) avenged last year's playoff loss to the Bulldogs (4-2, 0-1).
McCall's return TD gave Faith Lutheran a 17-8 lead. The Crusaders added another special teams touchdown when punter Adam Jones picked up an errant snap and ran 85 yards to make it 24-15.
Casimiro Zarate led Virgin Valley with 143 yards on 29 carries, and Doug Hafen threw a pair of touchdown passes to J.P. Parker.
-- Brent Kircher
• Moapa Valley 6, Boulder City 0 -- At Moapa Valley, Brad Weiss had a 4-yard TD run in the first quarter for the only score as the Pirates defeated the Eagles.
Weiss finished with 79 yards on 23 carries.
Moapa Valley's Max Jenkins intercepted two passes.
Boulder City threatened in the fourth quarter but fumbled on the Pirates 30-yard line with about three minutes left.
• Pahrump Valley 29, Legacy 14 -- At Pahrump Valley, Rocky Spencer ran for touchdowns of 12, 5 and 66 yards and finished with 22 carries for 220 yards as the Trojans defeated the Longhorns.
Legacy's Austin Christiansen had a 1-yard touchdown run, and Rakiem Salaam caught a 65-yard TD pass from Christiansen.
• Indian Springs 44, Round Mountain 22 -- At Indian Springs, Charlie Olmstead rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Thunderbirds over the Knights.
Olmstead had TD runs of 76, 25 and 18 runs and also recovered a fumble in the end zone for a score.
• Pahranagat 52, Mountain View 20 -- At Alamo, William Vea rushed for five touchdowns to lead the Panthers over the Saints.
