Jordan Norwood runs wild for Cimarron-Memorial

After starting the season with a loss to a rival and a one-point overtime loss the following week, Cimarron-Memorial was looking to find some answers Friday at Silverado.

That answer turned out to be running back Jordan Norwood.

The junior rushed for 284 yards and five touchdowns to power the Spartans to a 42-25 victory on Friday night. Norwood, who scored on runs of 21, 9, 81, 44 and 27 yards for Cimarron, said much of his motivation against the Skyhawks was simply a desire to win.

“It’s just the fact that I was tired of losing,” he said. “I’m just proving that Cimarron-Memorial is not going to be trash.”

Norwood scored on a 21-yard run up the middle that tied the game at 7-7 with 3:53 left in the second quarter. That was the catalyst that unleashed a wild sequence in which the Spartans (1-2) and Skyhawks (1-1) exchanged scores.

Silverado answered the Norwood touchdown in just four plays on Breven Palpallatoc’s touchdown run. Cimarron countered with Norwood and a 9-yard burst up the middle for a touchdown.

Then disaster struck for Silverado as the Skyhawks fumbled away the ensuing high kickoff at their own 19-yard line. On the next play, Spartan quarterback Branden Smith found Marcus Poole with a pass on the right side of the end zone and Cimarron took a 21-13 lead before halftime.

Norwood exploded on an 81-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and scored from 44 yards out a few minutes later.

Silverado had no answer.

“We saw some things on film that we thought were weaknesses of theirs that we thought we could attack with our strengths,” Spartans coach Kory Walker said. “We thought our two backs and our quarterback would give Silverado trouble. We just told the guys, we just have to run the rock. We just have to trust the process, and I think that’s what they showed.”

Mendez had 11 carries for 107 yards, and Palpallatoc added 99 yards to lead Silverado, which committed five turnovers.

Walker said getting this win was crucial for Cimarron.

“This is huge for the school. This give us some confidence,” he said. “We are a program that has been down in past years. We couldn’t start 0-3, or the morale of the school would have been like ‘Oh, here we go again.’ ”