Christian Vaughn goes wild in Desert Oasis win over Valley

To say that Desert Oasis junior running back Christian Vaughn is the workhorse of the Diamondback offense would be a huge understatement.

Vaughn was responsibile for 93 percent of the yardage Friday night, rushing for 299 yards and six touchdowns on 42 carries as Desert Oasis remained unbeaten with a 40-26 road win at Valley.

The Vikings did make things interesting, as quarterback Jarrett Zibert hit a wide-open Keenan McNair for a 59-yard score to pull Valley within 27-26 with 9:30 remaining. However, Valley’s Guillermo Ramirez couldn’t connect on the PAT, one of three misses on the evening.

From there, it was all Desert Oasis, as the Diamondbacks got a pair of Vaughn scores, blocked a punt and got an interception down the stretch.

“It feels great to be 2-0,” said Desert Oasis coach Michael Ovens. “It’s been a long time coming. I spent 16 years on the Valley sideline, so I know what kind of athletes they have.”

Ovens also knows what kind of athlete he has in Vaughn, who scored on TD runs of 10, 1, 1, 1, 6 and 4 yards as he surpassed the 200-yard mark for the second-straight week.

“As Christian goes, as our offensive line goes, so does our football team,” said Ovens. “We are learning to have the right attitude, to learn how to finish games. We did make plenty of mistakes, especially in the passing game. But we also missed some shots to score points as well.”

The Vikings led twice in the contest, including just 14 seconds in, as Isaiah Ramirez returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for the first score.

Zibert completed 12 of his 30 passes for 261 yards and three scores, including a 40-yard strike to Randell Mosley late in the third quarter.

But Valley ran into too much Vaughn, who rushed for 83 yards in the opening quarter and never looked back.

“He’s a special player,” Ovens said. “We are taking things one game at a time, one week at a time. We have a great chance to do something special here, with a special group of young men.”

McNair had 103 yards receiving for Valley (0-2), but the Vikings had just 30 yards on the ground.