No. 4 Shadow Ridge recovers late fumble, edges No. 8 Centennial — PHOTOS
Shadow Ridge’s offense didn’t have its best game against Centennial on Friday night, but the Mustangs defense helped pick up the slack when needed.
So it was fitting that Shadow Ridge closed out a win with a defensive play.
With under two minutes left in the fourth quarter and Centennial trying to drive down by six points, the Bulldogs had a low snap on third-and-15 near midfield. Shadow Ridge’s Salvatore Verba dived on the ground and grabbed up the loose ball to end any chance of a Centennial comeback.
That secured an 18-12 win for Shadow Ridge, ranked No. 4 in the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Class 5A rankings, over No. 8 Centennial on a chilly and windy night at Shadow Ridge.
“I was lit for by boy Sal,” Shadow Ridge quarterback Isaiah Ruiz said of his reaction to Verba coming up with the fumble recovery. “You all need to watch 76 (Verba’s number). 76 is a dog.”
Shadow Ridge’s offense did just enough, rushing for 257 yards. Ruiz accounted for 163 of those yards, had two rushing touchdowns and completed a 9-yard pass for the Mustangs’ only pass attempt of the game.
“(Centennial) was giving us some problems with their defensive alignment, and typically with our system, if they’re hard to read, it’s easier to block,” Shadow Ridge coach Travis Foster said. “That’s the strategy we use. The guys on the perimeter were making it tough with our quarterback, so we tried to be physical with them and let 5 (Ruiz) do what he does.”
Ruiz came up with the answer Shadow Ridge (6-1, 2-0 5A Desert League) needed after Centennial (3-3, 0-2) took a 12-10 lead with more than nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Ashton Hunt threw a 14-yard scoring pass to running back Brogan Church.
Shadow Ridge’s drive started at its 19 and pieced its way up to near midfield. Then Ruiz kept the ball on the option, went to his left, and sprinted 58 yards for a touchdown. A 2-point run from Hector Velazquez put the Mustangs ahead 18-12 with 7:14 remaining.
“I just saw everybody flowing to the left, and I made a cut up and just saw green grass,” Ruiz said.
Said Foster of his quarterback, running the Mustangs’ triple-option offense: “He’s done it all year. He’s the leader of our team. He’s not a vocal kid, but he’s a guy that works his butt off in the weight room. He does what he’s asked. We’re lucky to have him.”
There was still plenty of time for Centennial to answer. The Bulldogs got a break on what appeared to be an incomplete pass on third down that was negated by a Shadow Ridge defensive holding.
Shadow Ridge’s defense held strong, and after a Centennial unsportsmanlike penalty after a whistle set the Bulldogs back, Kawika Kalani came up with a tackle on third-and-24 when Hunt tried to run.
The Mustangs went three-and-out on their next drive but came up with the fumble recovery when Centennial tried to rally again. Kalani had two tackles for loss, a sack and a pass breakup.
“I’m proud of our defense holding strong there,” Foster said. “We gave them two drives inside the 10 and they only produced points on one of them. Blocking a PAT in the first half was huge and then forcing a turnover and recovering a fumble there to seal the game, our defense played lights out. I’m really proud of them.”
Shadow Ridge entered Friday ranked No. 4 in the NIAA’s 5A HRM rankings, which would place the Mustangs in the four-team Open Division state tournament.
Hunt came in for an injured Oliver Bergstrom in the third quarter, and Hunt completed 6 of 13 passes for 60 yards with a touchdown. Church added 70 rushing yards and Bergstrom was 6 of 18 for 38 yards and was intercepted.
It appeared it was going to be a Shadow Ridge runaway early. The Mustangs forced a three-and-out on the game’s opening drive, and then marched downfield in five plays to score on a 7-yard Ruiz touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
But Shadow Ridge and Centennial struggled to generate any offense. The Bulldogs got a big break at the start of the second quarter after a Shadow Ridge offensive hold negated a first-down run.
That forced the Mustangs to punt on the first play of the second quarter from their own 11-yard line, which was shanked off the side of Brian Brimhall’s foot, went in the air for a few yards and took a favorable Centennial bounce to Shadow Ridge’s 10-yard line, resulting in a net of negative-1 yard against the Mustangs.
Centennial took advantage when Kolten Silbernagel scored three plays later on a 2-yard run, but the extra point was blocked and Shadow Ridge kept a 7-6 lead early in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs got a chance to take the lead when Ruiz lost the ball on the option and Centennial’s Robert Smith recovered at Shadow Ridge’s 11. But that was short-lived as Ula Cox intercepted Bergstrom two plays later.
That Shadow Ridge drive stalled out near midfield and the Mustangs turned the ball over on downs when Trevin Young was 2 yards short on a fourth-down run in Centennial territory. Neither team could move the ball on their final drives in the last two minutes, and Shadow Ridge went into the break leading 7-6.
“It’s great. It was a must-win,” Ruiz said. “It’s just a great team win. The chemistry was there. Not as much points as we wanted, but at least we came out with the (win).”
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.