Cofer’s five TDs power Coronado

Every football coach counts on his go-to players to step things up in big games.

For Coronado coach Brad Talich, that player always seems to be senior quarterback Jackson Cofer.

Cofer delivered a career performance Friday by rushing for four touchdowns and passing for another to lead the Cougars to a 34-25 victory over host Foothill.

“Jackson is a special athlete,” Talich said. “We need to have the ball in his hands.”

Though Coronado (3-4, 2-1 Southeast League) controlled the first half, Talich said he knew the Falcons were capable of making a late run.

“We knew it was going to be a tight ballgame,” Talich said. “But our kids were ready for this game, and they believed.”

No one believed more than Cofer.

“To come out here and play like that in a hostile environment, it doesn’t get any better,” said Cofer, who rushed 23 times for 225 yards.

Both defenses controlled the early pace, as both teams had four furuitless possessions in the first quarter.

“It took a while to make adjustments,” Talich said. “But we were finally able to put some points on the board.”

Cofer connected with Michael Simpson for a 49-yard TD pass midway through the second, then scored on a 37-yard sprint up the middle with 3:40 remaining in the half to give his team a 14-0 lead.

A Cory Fisher field goal put Foothill on the board just before halftime, but Cofer broke free for a 90-yard TD run early in the third quarter to put Coronado back in control at 21-3.

The Falcons responded by scoring twice in just over a minute. Drew Doxtator hit Ian Ellis and Bryce Broadwell with TD passes late in the third to cut the Falcons’ deficit to 21-18.

Cofer capped an 11-play drive early in the fourth quarter with a 3-yard run to rebuild Coronado’s lead, but Foothill again answered when Doxtator hit Broadwell with a 45-yard TD pass to cut Coronado’s advantage to 28-25 with 4:21 left.

A late fumble by the Falcons (4-3, 2-1) sealed their doom, allowing Cofer to put it away with a 35-yard TD run with 47 seconds remaining.

Cofer also completed 14 of 24 passes for 149 yards. Simpson finished with 100 yards and a touchdown on five receptions to help Coronado, which racked up 435 yards on the night.

Doxtator completed 20 of 39 passes for three TDs and 332 yards to lead Foothill. Teammate David Persi caught nine of those passes for 175 yards.

■ Bishop Gorman 56, Cimarron-Memorial 7 — At Gorman, Russell Booze and Daniel Stewart each rushed for two touchdowns as the No. 1 Gaels handed the No. 9 Spartans their first defeat of the season.

Booze had eight carries for 107 yards, including TD runs of 3 and 71 yards for the Gaels (6-2, 2-0 Southwest).

Stewart scored Gorman’s first two touchdowns on runs of 1 and 8 yards to give the Gaels a 14-0 lead.

Jonathan Shumaker had a 60-yard TD run, and Randall Cunningham Jr threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Chambers in the second quarter that pushed the Gorman lead to 35-0.

Michael Barnson had 27 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown to lead the Spartans (5-1, 1-1).

■ Canyon Springs 52, Valley 7 — At Valley, Zaviontay Stevenson rushed 15 times for 168 yards and a touchdown as the Pioneers ran past the Vikings.

No. 3 Canyon Springs scored 42 unanswered points in the second half, aided by three turnovers, including Marcel Selmon’s two interceptions.

Bradley Alexander II threw for 105 yards and a touchdown, and Jordan Davis threw two TD passes, including a 54-yard heave to Rashad Richy.

— Zac Alexander

■ Green Valley 74, Rancho 6 — At Rancho, the Gators used a balanced attack and superior defense to stay undefeated.

Offensively, No. 6 Green Valley (5-2, 3-0 Northeast) was led by junior quarterback Christian Lopez, who passed for 238 yards and four touchdowns, and junior Jose Martinez, who rushed for a team high 151 yards and three scores.

Shawn Spencer completed a 10-yard second-quarter touchdown pass to Antonio Bellows for the Rams’ lone score.

■ Las Vegas 27, Silverado 9 — At Las Vegas, Andrew Moreland rushed for 132 yards and scored three times as the No. 8 Wildcats celebrated a Homecoming win.

Moreland scored on runs of 41 and 21 yards and caught a 10-yard pass for another score for Las Vegas (4-3, 2-1 Northeast), which scored 20 points in the opening period.

Silverado (2-5, 1-2) scored its lone touchdown in the opening period on a 46-yard run from Alek Aragon. Aragon led all rushers with 246 yards on 44 carries.

— Sam Leeper

■ Liberty 54, Eldorado 0 — At Eldorado, the second-ranked Patriots put away the game with five first-quarter scores.

Liberty (5-3, 3-0 Southeast) put up touchdowns on its first three offensive plays. Tyler Newman led the onslaught with 6-for-6 passing and 218 yards and touchdown passes to Drew Hladek, Deseon McQuaig, Bradley Viloria and Noah Jefferson. Kevin Verboonen stepped in during the second half and went 3-for-3 with 126 yards and touchdowns to Tyler Parvin and Ethan Dedeaux.

■ Basic 34, Del Sol 13 — At Del Sol, Jon Scoffield rushed for three touchdowns as the Wolves (3-4, 2-1 Southeast) rolled.

Scoffield rushed for 142 yards on eight carries, including touchdown runs of 1, 62, and 5 yards.

Aaron Williamson scored on a 65-yard run in the second quarter to lead the Dragons (0-7, 0-3).

■ Palo Verde 45, Spring Valley 0 — Darrion Finn ran for 53 yards and three scores and Jaren Campbell added 122 yards and a score as the Panthers (5-1, 2-0 Northwest) routed the Grizzlies (1-5, 0-2).

Finn scored on two pitches of 15 yards and one of 23 yards, and Campbell broke a 60-yard TD run on Palo Verde’s first play from scrimmage.

E.J. Wilbert finished with 66 yards, and teammate Raheem Edmonds supplied 11 tackles for Spring Valley.

■ Arbor View 42, Durango 0 — At Durango, the No. 4 Aggies (5-1, 2-0 Northwest) rushed for 504 yards, averaging just more than 13 yards on 38 carries, and held the Trailblazers (0-6, 0-2) to 86 total yards of offense in the shutout.

Anthony Smith totaled 172 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, and Salah Boyce added two touchdown runs, finishing with 111 yards on six carries.

■ Shadow Ridge 34, Sierra Vista 14 — At Shadow Ridge, quarterback Dustin Puia rushed for two touchdowns and threw for two more, while running back Cody Alfar rushed for 150 yards on 19 attempts to lead the Mustangs (3-3, 1-1 Northwest) to a Homecoming win.

Puia finished with 40 yards rushing and 71 yards passing, including a 59-yard touchdown strike to J Henderson in the fourth quarter to put away the game.

Though Sierra Vista (2-4, 1-1) started the scoring with a safety at 5:38 of the first quarter, four first-half fumbles cost the Mountain Lions dearly.

Maliek Broady rushed for 125 yards on 12 carries for the Mountain Lions.

■ Centennial 36, Desert Oasis 19 — At Centennial, the Bulldogs (3-3, 2-0 Southwest) got defensive when it mattered.

Centennial’s defense returned an interception for a touchdown, forced three three-and-outs, made two fourth-down stops and limited Desert Oasis running back Jocquez Kalili to 28 yards rushing on eight carries during the second half. Kalili had a big first half for Desert Oasis (3-3, 0-2), rushing for 138 yards on 22 carries and all three of the Diamondbacks touchdowns.

Senior running back Lantz Worthington put away the game on a 39-yard touchdown run with 4:35 remaining. Worthington finished with 129 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns.

— Robert Horne

■ Faith Lutheran 27, Cheyenne 8 — At Cheyenne, Faith Lutheran scored twice in the first quarter then survived a second half of trading turnovers to beat Cheyenne, clinching at least a tie for the Sunset League title.

The Crusaders (7-2, 4-0 Sunset) scored on their first posession, going 52 yards on 13 plays. On the Desert Shields’ second play of offense, Christian Marshall recovered an errant lateral pass to help Faith find the end zone again.

Deonte Perkins totaled 74 yards receiving for Cheyenne (2-6, 2-2), including an 11-yard TD pass from Anthony McConnico with no time left in the first half.

■ Pahrump Valley 60, Western 0 — At Western, Scott Maughan rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries as the Trojans scored eight touchdowns on the the ground.

Keenan Harris also scored two rushing touchdowns for Pahrump Valley (3-5, 2-2 Division I-A Sunset), finishing with 94 yards on six carries.

Xerexes Tachiquin rushed 18 times for 55 yards for Western (0-8, 0-4).

■ Desert Pines 23, Chaparral 22 — At Desert Pines, Chaparral missed a potential winning field goal with 23 seconds left but got another opportunity after a roughing-the-kicker penalty. A few plays later, the Cowboys were stopped at the 1-yard line with no time remaining.

Quarterback Iquan Corsey led Desert Pines (8-0, 4-0 Sunrise) back from a 16-point deficit, finishing with 84 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Just before the half, Seitu Wyche gave Chaparral (3-5, 1-3) a 22-8 lead with 1:28 left, but Desert Pines’ Tim Hough returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to make it 22-16.

A 15-yard touchdown reception by Malik Davis with 1:52 left in the third gave the Jaguars the lead for good.

■ Boulder City 62, Sunrise Mountain 12 — At Boulder City, Xavier Steel rushed for 125 yards and three touchdowns to help the Eagles top the Miners.

Sam Woodbury added 117 yards rushing and a score for Boulder City (3-5, 1-3 Sunrise).

Romello Tatum rushed for 77 yards for Sunrise Mountain (1-7, 0-4).

■ The Meadows 35, White Pine 0 — At White Pine, Bryson Navallo rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Mustangs (6-2, 5-1 Division III Southern) past the Bobcats (0-8, 0-6).

Jacob Gleason completed 11 of 17 passes for 155 yards for The Meadows.

■ Spring Mountain 50, Sandy Valley 28 — At Sandy Valley, Joshua Banasiak tossed four touchdown passes and ran for a score to lead the Golden Eagles (3-2, 2-2 Division IV Southern) past the Sidewinders (3-4, 0-4).

Banasiak tossed touchdown passes of 8, 12 and 31 yards to Valmir Bojku and hooked up with David Otuafi on a 44-yard scoring pass.

■ Indian Springs 31, Beatty 20 — At Indian Springs, Sope Faga rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries to help the Thunderbirds (4-3, 2-2 Division IV Southern) hold off the Hornets (2-3, 1-3).