Desert Shields overcome slow start to beat Grizzlies

After last week's overtime loss against Canyon Springs, there was a possibility that the Cheyenne offense could have a bit of a hangover heading into Friday's Division I-A Sunset League opener at Spring Valley.

The Desert Shields did come out slowly. In fact Cheyenne didn't even make its initial first down until the 8:21 mark of the second quarter.

But thanks to a pair of Corwin Bush touchdowns in a four-minute span, Cheyenne did just enough against the Grizzlies.

Bush had second-quarter TD runs of 11 and 6 yards as the Desert Shields earned a 22-12 win.

"There are going to be growing pains when learning a new offense," said Cheyenne coach David Cochran. "After last week, I knew it was going to be tough at the beginning. But remember, we were playing an undefeated team."

In the opening period, Cheyenne (2-1) gained just 11 yards. But the Desert Shields got a 42-yard interception return by Kamareeon Counts for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

However, the second quarter was all Cheyenne. The Desert Shields gained 165 yards and the pair of Bush touchdowns gave the Desert Shields a 22-0 lead at halftime.

Spring Valley (2-1) managed to block a pair of punts deep in Cheyenne territory in the third quarter, which led to its points. Quarterback K.C. Moore ran 5 yards for one score and then threw a 22-yard pass to Julio Rosas-Sanchez pulling Spring Valley to within 10 points.

But Cheyenne's defense slammed the door following the last Spring Valley touchdown. The Grizzlies had 179 total yards, but Cheyenne (2-1) held Spring Valley to minus-2 yards on the ground.

"Our defense is the backbone of our football team," said Cochran, whose unit picked off two passes and sacked Moore three times. "We are still a work in progress, but we will keep working each day."

Quarterback Anthony McConnico rushed for 42 of Cheyenne's 112 yards, and completed 12 of 21 passes for 116 yards.

David Walker added 41 yards on 16 carries for the Desert Shields, while Bush had 39 yards on five rushes.

Moore finished 13-for-30 passing for 181 yards for Spring Valley.

The two teams combined for 26 penalties for a total of 237 yards.