FOOTBALL: Blackwell, Pioneers top Cimarron-Memorial

Canyon Springs football coach Keith Jones trusts his defense.

Things got ugly in the opening minutes Friday, but the coach's faith eventually was rewarded as the Pioneers recovered to dominate the final three quarters en route to a 27-13 victory at Cimarron-Memorial.

Jerrod Blackwell rushed for 178 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries to lead Canyon Springs (2-0), but Jones credited his entire team.

"We had four different players score tonight, and that was by design," Jones said. "We have to share our wealth because we don't have that one guy who can just pop out and score anytime we need a touchdown. We have to go with a good team effort."

That effort was lacking early in the first quarter, as a key penalty allowed the Spartans a second chance that led to a 19-yard Tyree Riley TD sprint.

"I wasn't worried," Jones said. "I knew my defense was solid and that they would respond."

He was right, as Cimarron (0-3) struggled to move the ball the rest of the way. Jones' defense, meanwhile, repelled two fourth-down conversion attempts and robbed the Spartans of a possible touchdown by forcing a fumble at the 9-yard line late in the first half.

Tre'van Dean's 15-yard TD capped a 64-yard drive for Canyon Springs to tie the score midway through the first half. Marcell Selmon added a 4-yard TD run early in the second, and Blackwell's 58-yard scoring run later in the quarter made it 20-7 at halftime.

"It all started with defense," Jones said. "Defense creates good offense. The kids have to come together on both sides of the ball."

Diamonte Burton's 29-yard TD run gave the Pioneers a 27-7 lead early in the third quarter.

The Spartans managed a late 46-yard TD pass from George Tribble to Eric Wade, but never threatened again.

Burton finished with 46 yards on nine carries for Canyon Springs.

Riley rushed 24 times for 122 yards to lead Cimarron.

Chaparral 35, Sunrise Mountain 14 — At Chaparral, Richard Nelson rushed for 155 yards and had four total touchdowns to lead the Cowboys over the Miners.

Nelson, a senior, opened the scoring on the first play from scrimmage, breaking an 80-yard touchdown run to put the Cowboys (2-1, 1-0 Sunrise) ahead 7-0.

A 10-yard touchdown run by Antwain Allen and an 80-yard interception return from Nelson put Chaparral ahead 21-0 at the half, and the Cowboys never looked back.

Stephen Wright threw for 172 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for Sunrise Mountain (2-1, 0-1). Trayvon Ward had 12 carries for 53 yards and a touchdown for the Miners.

Chaparral opened scoring in the second half when Nelson took a screen pass from Cowboys quarterback Andrew Solis 40 yards to make the score 28-0.

The Miners responded on the next drive with a 1-yard touchdown run from Ward. Dante Calahan intercepted Solis on the next drive, and the Miners were again in position to score midway through the third quarter.

But a dropped pass from receiver Dalton Pytrysson stalled the ensuing drive for Sunrise Mountain, eventually leading to a 68-yard Nelson touchdown run.

Solis finished 11 of 16 for 144 yards passing, a touchdown and an interception.

Virgin Valley 48, Del Sol 0 — At Del Sol, the Bulldogs used a balanced attack, racking up 220 yards passing and 221 yards on the ground in a dominant shutout over the Dragons.

On the second play from scrimmage, Hogan Fowles rolled to his right and connected on a deep slant pass with Jaret Tietjen for a 76-yard touchdown and the early lead.

Cesar Zarate kicked a 45-yard field goal in the second quarter. Cody Jones busted loose for a 54-yard touchdown run, and Kai Mitchell added the first of his two TD runs with just more than a minute to play in the second quarter to give Virgin Valley (2-1, 1-0 Sunrise) a 23-0 halftime lead.

Mitchell capped the first Bulldog drive of the second half with a 6-yard TD run, and Fowles scored on a QB keeper from 6 yards out on their following drive.

Josh Bishop and Tony Urias each had a fourth-quarter rushing touchdown to round out the scoring for Virgin Valley. The Bulldogs defense was never threatened and held the Dragons to just 119 yards of offense.

Nate Bryan rushed for 88 yards on 13 carries for Del Sol (0-3, 0-1).

Mar Vista (Calif.) 21, Durango 6 — At Durango, the Trailblazers (0-3) could not overcome three early scores.

Jonathan Scofield rushed for a 4-yard score in the third quarter for the Trailblazers, but Durango was unable to mount another scoring drive to narrow the gap.

The Mariners (3-0) opened the scoring in the first on a 20-yard run by Khalil Spruill, who was lost to an injury on the next drive. That put the game in the hands of Mar Vista quarterback Michael Wilson, who hit Xavier Williams on consecutive drives, including a 30-yard strike on the first play of the second quarter, followed by a 14-yard score.

Following the second touchdown pass, Leontre Austin appeared to have returned the kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown for the Trailblazers, but it was called back by penalty.

Durango's second-half touchdown drive included a 35-yard completion on fourth down with Scofield, in his role as punter, passing to Isaiah Johnson for a first down to set up the score. Scofield threw for 78 yards and rushed for 49.

Bonanza 40, Valley 24 — At Valley, Joey Fox passed for 291 yards and two touchdowns, and DeShawn Williams rushed for 151 yards and two scores to lead the Bengals by the Vikings.

Fox tossed TD passes of 45 and 8 yards to R.J. McCarter and ran for a 7-yard score late in the game for Bonanza (2-1). McCarter caught six passes for 178 yards.

Valley (0-2) struck first on an 8-yard touchdown pass from Iyen Medlock to Jaesion Flores.

But Fox's first touchdown pass and scoring runs of 6 and 2 yards by Williams put the Bengals up for good.

David Smith rushed for 57 yards and a touchdown for Valley.

Sierra Vista 56, Western 6 — At Sierra Vista, Daniel Godfrey ran for a pair of scores and caught two passes for touchdowns to lead the Mountain Lions over the Warriors.

Godfrey finished with 232 total yards (144 rushing, 88 receiving).

Godfrey scored three of his touchdowns in the first quarter on runs of 1 and 4 yards and hauled in a 48-yard strike from Oscar Aliaga as Sierra Vista had a 26-6 lead after the first quarter.

Godfrey also hauled in the final score of the half — a 40-yard scoring strike from Aliaga — as the Mountain Lions (1-2, 1-0 Sunset) opened up a 40-6 advantage by halftime.

Aliaga finished with 299 yards in the air on 10-for-15 passing and four touchdowns. Two of the scores went to Andrew Dunn who had TD catches of 44 and 24 yards in the second half.

Chevy Eliu added a pair of receptions for 50 yards, and Budhatt Kolone caught one ball for 69 yards and ran for 44 for Sierra Vista.

Isaiah Goodrich led the Mountain Lions on defense with two fumble recoveries, and Isaiah Zavala added an interception.

Western's lone score came in the opening quarter when Bishop Harris hauled in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Gregory Castenada midway through the first quarter, but the Warriors (0-3) were outscored 49-0 from that point.

Harris finished with 10 catches and 104 yards.

Castenada completed 18 of 29 passes for 249 yards for Western. Anthony Shelby had four catches for 124 yards for the Warriors.

Faith Lutheran 39, Clark 19 — At Faith Lutheran, Christian Marshall gained 257 yards and scored three times to lead the Crusaders (2-1, 1-0 Sunset).

Crusaders quarterback Brenden Joyce hit Marshall for 174 of those yards, including screen plays for touchdowns of 56 and 78 yards.

Clark (2-1, 0-1) cut the lead to 20-6 early in the third quarter, then forced a Faith Lutheran fumble on the next drive to make some noise. Faith Lutheran's Alec Netski stopped that drive by nabbing one of his two interceptions and returning it 21 yards for a touchdown.

The Chargers responded with a nine-play drive, but it stalled on an open-field tackle by Faith Lutheran's senior Robby Schwartz and a Clark unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Clark's Milan Dixon rushed for 86 yards and scored on a 32-yard scamper early in the second half. Nick Kinnard rushed for 69 yards and passed for 98 in just more than a half for Clark. Alejandro Encinas returned a fumble 50 yards for a touchdown for Clark.

Elijah Kothe had five receptions for 62 yards for Faith Lutheran, and Chris Stanek had a team-high eight tackles.

Rancho 33, Boulder City 6 — At Boulder City, Ja'Vion Mickel had a 40-yard interception return for a touchdown as the Rams (2-1) downed the Eagles (1-2).

Austin Wishard threw a 47-yard TD strike to Zach Murphy for Boulder City.

Mojave 40, Pahrump Valley 7 — At Pahrump, the Rattlers stormed out to a 21-0 halftime lead before downing the Trojans.

T.J. Milk threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Parker Hart for Pahrump's lone score.

Mountain View 20, Lake Mead 0 — At Henderson International, Tyrell Brooks ran for 78 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries and tossed a touchdown pass as the Saints shut down the Eagles.

Terrence Brooks opened the scoring at the end of a slow first quarter with an 11-yard run.

From there, the Mountain View defense took over; stopping Lake Mead twice on fourth down in the second quarter. Late in the third quarter, Mountain View (1-2, 1-1 Division III Southern) stalled Lake Mead (0-2, 0-2) at the 18-yard line after a 10-play drive, then went 82 yards in eight plays; capped by a 42-yard touchdown pass from Tyrell Brooks to Terrence Brooks.

Tyrell Brooks finished the scoring with a 27-yard run two minutes later after a quick turnover on downs by Lake Mead. Bernard Williams ran for 87 yards on nine carries for Mountain View.

Jared Regan led Lake Mead with 61 yards on the ground.

The Meadows 56, Quest Academy 8 — At The Meadows, Jack Berkley passed for 123 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for 85 yards and two scores to lead the Mustangs (2-1) over the Knights (0-2).

Berkley broke a 60-yard TD run on the third play of the game, and a 20-yard option keeper for a score before halftime to put The Meadows up 42-8.

Berkley hooked up with Max Hisatake for a 42-yard TD pass in the first quarter, and a 55-yard TD strike to Ethan Fridman in the second quarter.

Ben Hoskins intercepted a shovel pass and returned it 30 yards for the game's final score, and he was 8-for-8 on extra point conversions for the Mustangs.

Donovan Baldwin had a 78-yard touchdown scamper for Quest Academy's lone score.

White Pine 26, Lincoln County 22 — At Panaca, the Bobcats scored twice in the second half to break free from a 14-all halftime tie and downed the Lynx.

McClain O'Connor rushed for only 27 yards, but scored three touchdowns for Lincoln County (1-1, 1-1 Division III Southern).

O'Connor completed 4 of 7 passes for 71 yards, but was intercepted twice, and the Lynx managed just 112 yards on the ground.

White Pine is 2-1, 2-0.

Pahranagat Valley 34, Thacher (Calif,) 30 — At Ojai, Calif., the nation's longest winning streak stayed alive ... barely.

Tabor Maxwell threw three touchdown passes and ran for two scores, and the Panthers (2-0) stopped the Toads (0-1) on a fourth-down play from the Panther 25-yard line with four seconds left to run their winning streak to 83 games.

Maxwell's 4-yard touchdown pass to Culen Highbe with 1:18 left in the third quarter gave Pahranagat Valley a 34-22 lead, but the Toads responded with a long touchdown pass with nine minutes left in the game.

Pahranagat Valley was driving for the clinching score with less than three minutes to play, but Christian Higbee fumbled the ball near the goal line, and Thacher recovered in the end zone for a touchdback.

Officials appeared to give Thacher an extra down before the final play.

After the Toads picked up a first down at the Panther 23, a fumbled snap resulted in a loss of a yard.

A holding penalty on the next play backed up the Toads to the 34, and on second down, Reese Proctor overthrew a receiver. But after the play, the down marker was reset to second. A 9-yard run set up what should have been fourth and 12 from the 25.

Proctor's pass was batted down, but the Toads still were given another play, and Laurence Jackson gained only five yards on a double reverse as Thacher turned the ball over on downs with four seconds left.

Shawn Wadsworth caught both of Maxwell's touchdown passes.

"What a great game for us to come here and play," said Pahranagat Valley coach Ken Higbee. "They are a big, physical team. The teams here, they are legit."

Spring Mountain 66, Beatty 8 — At Spring Mountain, Diquan Spiller threw two touchdown passes and ran for three more scores to lead the Golden Eagles (1-1, 1-0 Division IV Southern) by the Hornets (1-1, 0-1).

Spiller connected with D'Quan Porchia on both TDs for Spring Mountain, which also got touchdown runs from Kevion Berry, Malachai Moten and Deonze Paster.

Tyriq McKinney had a 72-yard kickoff return for the Golden Eagles, who led 48-8 at halftime.

Sandy Valley 54, Round Mountain 28 — At Sandy Valley, Logan Shelton rushed for 311 yards and five touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass as the Sidewinders (2-1, 1-0 Division IV Southern) topped the Knights (1-2, 0-1).

David Roundy added 92 rushing yards for Sandy Valley.

Nick Dresden led the Sidewinders' defense with 14 tackles.

Needles 48, Laughlin 6 — At Needles, Calif., the Mustangs routed the Cougars.

Tyler Furr scored on a 7-yard quarterback keeper for Laughlin.