Big plays boost Green Valley in victory over Desert Pines

Sometimes it just takes one big play to win a high school football game. On Friday night, Green Valley got three of them, and the Gators needed all three to secure a victory.

Bo Hackenbruck returned a fumble 47 yards for the go-ahead score, and the Gators added big plays on offense and special teams to hold on for a 19-18 victory over visiting Desert Pines.

“Just being in the right place at the right time,” Hackenbruck said of his fumble return, which gave the Gators a 13-12 lead with 7:17 to play. “My teammate, Roman Adams, caused that fumble. That play went off to him causing that fumble. Taking it back was just being in the right place at the right time.”

Jaguars quarterback Jerome Sequeira was looking for extra yards at the end of a 6-yard run when he coughed up the ball, and Hackenbruck returned it for a touchdown and a one-point lead.

Green Valley (3-3, 1-1 5A Mountain League) got the ball back with 5:27 to go, and ran the ball on the first four plays of the drive, looking to run clock. On the fifth play, Desert Pines was flagged for a dead ball personal foul, moving the ball to the Jaguars 20-yard line.

Two plays later, receiver Evan Williams made a leaping catch over a Desert Pines defender on a fade pass from Michael Lewis for a 20-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 19-12 with 3:07 to play.

“We were drawing it up all game,” Williams said. “I just had to size him up a little bit, and thankfully my quarterback and my O-line were able to hold up and I was able to come out with the catch to secure the win.”

Green Valley elected to go for 2, and the run failed, keeping the Jaguars (3-3, 1-1) within seven points. That turned out to be important after Desert Pines’ Mario Velasco Fletcher returned the ensuing kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown.

Velasco Fletcher found a seam, then cut back across the field near the Gators 40-yard line, taking the ball all the way to the right corner of the end zone for the score.

After initially sending their kicking team onto the field, the Jaguars called timeout and elected to go for 2. Sequeira rolled both directions looking for an open receiver, then lofted a pass into the end zone that was knocked down by Sam Byington, and the Gators held their 19-18 lead with 2:50 left.

“I saw the ball in the air and I knew I had to go deflect it, catch it, whatever I had to do to break it up,” Byington said. “We knew if they catch that we’re down by one and we’re going to have to go make a hell of a play on offense to come back.”

Outside of Williams’ TD catch and a couple of big runs by Lewis, the Gators struggled a bit offensively. The defense, however, kept the team in the game. Green Valley stopped two Desert Pines drives inside the red zone, including a stop at the 1-yard-line on fourth-and-goal in the first half.

“They’re so physically talented, and from a matchup standpoint we didn’t really match up with them that well,” Green Valley coach Bill Powell said. “But we’ve continued to get better every week. To be able to do what we did tonight, get down, not quit and be able to make plays when we needed to.”

Lewis ran for 71 yards on eight carries, including a 12-yard TD run with 6:48 to go in the third quarter that cut the Desert Pines lead to 12-7.

Lewis finished 11-for-19 passing for 75 yards and the touchdown with one interception.

Sequeira ran for 85 yards and two scores on 11 carries to pace Desert Pines, and teammate Marcus Williams had 26 carries for 164 yards. But the Jaguars were plagued by penalties all game, finishing with 16 for 180 yards.

“This helps us a lot,” Evan Williams said. “We really needed this win in this league. We played a really good DP team, like I said. We’re kind of back up there in the ranks and ready for next week.”