Las Vegas High escapes with win at Palo Verde — PHOTOS
Las Vegas High and Palo Verde’s football teams traded long, explosive scoring plays on offense during a wild fourth quarter. But it was a defensive score that helped Las Vegas eke out a win.
With Palo Verde trailing 26-20, Las Vegas linebacker Chris Fernandez picked off Stockton Baird and raced 20 yards for a touchdown.
That helped Las Vegas escape with a 33-20 road win over Palo Verde on the first Friday night of the new high school football season.
“That was huge for Chris Fernandez,” Las Vegas coach Jose Cerriteno said. “He’s the guy that’s been the heart and soul of our team. He’s a kid that the kids respect and it’s just great to see those kids have those big moments.”
There were plenty of big moments in the fourth quarter. There were four offensive touchdowns scored, two by each team, and three scores were on plays of 76 yards or more within the first minute of the fourth.
Las Vegas (1-0) got plenty of big plays from senior quarterback Tanner Vibabul. The 6-foot-2-inch three-star recruit completed 10 of 17 passes for 237 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He rushed for 196 yards and two scores, but fumbled three times.
“We turned the ball over quite a bit, but then our defense restarted and was able to get some takeaways,” Cerriteno said. “It kind of evened us out. We were a little sloppy with out execution, but it’s the first week. A lot of credit goes to Palo Verde; those guys responded every time. They had a little bit of momentum there and our kids had to respond.”
Palo Verde (0-1) trailed 14-7 entering the fourth quarter, but it appeared any life the Panthers had was diminished when, on the first play of the quarter, Vibabul kept the ball on an option and raced 87 yards for a touchdown to put the Wildcats ahead 20-7.
“I had one guy to beat and I had a great block by the slot receiver Porter Wells and I had to take the rest,” Vibabul said.
Palo Verde didn’t waste any time responding, as seconds later freshman quarterback Stockton Baird connected with X’Zavier McZeal on a 76-yard pass to cut Las Vegas’ lead to 20-13.
Vibabul and the offense had another big play in them as he found wide receiver Dasean Deayon and the junior raced 80 yards for a score to get Las Vegas back ahead 26-13 after a second consecutive missed extra point by the Wildcats.
The three scoring plays all happened within the first 49 seconds of the fourth quarter.
Baird kept the Panthers in it. He capped another scoring drive with his third touchdown pass to McZeal to make it a 26-20 game with 4:43 left.
“That’s one of the things we try to work on on a daily basis, is to try to make sure we’re even keel, staying in between, not riding the high, not riding the lows, whatever comes our way, it’s just how we respond to things,” Cerriteno said.
It appeared Palo Verde was going to get a last drive to even the score when Vibabul’s pass at Palo Verde’s goal line went through Jakhai Jones’ hands and was intercepted. But Fernandez came up with the game-sealing pick-six.
“I was excited,” Vibabul said of Fernandez’s interception. “Me and him were talking before the game, talking about a pick and it was crazy, it was a pick-six. But, yeah, I love to see another senior get to it. It was awesome.”
Baird completed 13 of 30 passes for 228 yards with three touchdowns but was intercepted three times. McZeal had four catches for 146 yards and three touchdowns.
Las Vegas also got big nights from freshman running back Steven Bullock, who caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Vibabul in the first quarter to help the Wildcats take a 14-0 lead early and added an 88-yard kickoff return. Deayon, playing his first varsity game, had five catches for 181 yards and a touchdown.
“I’m happy for those kids. They work extremely hard and it’s nice to see them and the fruits of their labor pay off and show up on a Friday night, “Cerriteno said.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
