ROUNDUP: Basic uses goal-line stops beat Canyon Springs, advance to Sunrise Region semis

Basic High football coach Jeff Cahill expected his players to produce a win on Friday. He just didn’t expect them to win so easily.

The Wolves struck early and often on offense, but it was their strong second-half defense that finished off a 42-21 road win over Canyon Springs in the first round of the Sunrise Region playoffs.

“We knew Canyon Springs had a good football team,” said Cahill, whose squad will play at Foothill in the second round on Thursday. “But we also knew what our team could do. We knew we could play with anybody.”

The Pioneers kept it close with the help of two quick strikes in the first half, but the Wolves’ defense dominated the final two quarters.

“We knew it was win or go home,” said Basic defensive tackle Perry Williams. “We had a couple of goal-line stops and that really kept us going.”

Basic’s first score came after the defense stopped the Pioneers on a fourth-down play at the Wolves’ 8-yard line.

Basic capitalized, as Chris Bibbs’ 35-yard run helped fuel a 92-yard drive that resulted in a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Lorenzo Sampson.

After recovering the ensuing onside kick, the Wolves capped their next drive with a 2-yard TD plunge by Sampson to go ahead 14-0.

But Canyon Springs’ Diamante Luna immediately answered by returning the kickoff 75 yards to get his team within 14-7 late in the first quarter.

Darien Spencer’s leaping 18-yard reception from Eddie Vega helped Basic extend its lead to 22-7, but the Pioneers needed just three plays to cut the deficit to 22-15 on a 50-yard TD sprint by Donnel Pumphrey.

Even so, Cahill said his team was energized by its fans, which far outnumbered the Canyon Springs fans.

“We knew we would get some good support tonight,” he said. “That’s one of the great things about Basic. The crowd was loud, and that really helped us.”

Pumphrey made it interesting with a 48-yard TD run early in the second half that cut the Wolves’ lead to 22-21, but that was all the Basic defense would allow.

The Pioneers failed to find the end zone the rest of the way, while Basic padded its lead by scoring on a 4-yard run by Mike Roberts, a 48-yard pass from Vega to Devonte Boyd and a 25-yard circus catch by Spencer from Vega.

Kevin Hargro intercepted a Kevion Glenn pass late in the fourth to seal the Wolves’ win.

Vega completed 12 of 21 passes for 242 yards to lead the Wolves (6-4), and Boyd racked up 170 yards on seven receptions.

Pumphrey led Canyon Springs (7-3) with 178 yards on 27 carries.

Palo Verde 40, Durango 7 — At Palo Verde, the Panthers scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and cruised past the Trailblazers (5-5).

Palo Verde (10-0) will host Centennial Thursday in a Sunset Region semifinal.

Senior running back Eric South scored on runs of 17 yards and 1 yard in the first quarter, and led the Panthers with 73 yards on 12 carries.

Palo Verde’s quarterback Parker Rost threw for 112 yards and two touchdowns. Rost had a 13-yard scoring toss to Lee Griggs, and a 57-yard TD pass to Ryan Beaulieu, who also intercepted a pass on defense.

Jacob Witham added a 32-yard TD run, and Jonathan Maxwell finished the scoring on a 30-yard scamper.

Durango’s Arie McQuaig scored on a 39-yard fumble return, and compiled 51 yards rushing to lead the Trailblazers, who got an interception from Mike Figueroa.

Griggs contributed 69 yards on 12 rushes, and Jerrol Garcia-Williams had an interception and six tackles on defense for Palo Verde.
— Brennan Karle

Arbor View 57, Bonanza 7 — At Arbor View, Donnie Gaskin scored three second-quarter touchdowns as the Aggies rolled to a win in a Sunset Region quarterfinal and earned a rematch with Bishop Gorman.

Gaskin scored on runs of 12, 66 and 80 yards in the second quarter to help stake Arbor View to a 44-0 halftime lead. He finished with 189 rushing yards.

The Aggies (9-2) capitalized on Bonanza fumbles on the first two possessions, each time using a Henry Hoffend run to convert the turnover into points. Hoffend, who had TD runs of 2 and 6 yards, also had a 40-yard TD pass to Roderick Eason.

Arbor View plays at Gorman at 7 p.m. on Thursday.

The Bengals (7-3) had averaged 35 points in the regular season, but were held to just two first downs in the first half.

Bonanza quarterback Brett Doyle threw for 145 yards, including a 66-yard TD connection to Colton Bennion in the fourth quarter.
— Neil Grepke

Bishop Gorman 49, Cheyenne 6 — At Gorman, the two-time defending state champion Gaels (12-1) passed their first postseason test easily in a lopsided victory over the Desert Shields (6-4).

Gorman’s Jarrett Solomon tossed three touchdown passes and ran for another, and Shaquille Powell rushed for 142 yards and two TD’s and caught two passes for 57 yards and a score for the Gaels.

Powell opened the scoring with a 3-yard run late in the first quarter and the game remained close until the Gaels rattled off four consecutive touchdowns in the final eight minutes of the first half.

Justin Sweet scored on a 1-yard run to cap a 7-play 65-yard drive that extended the Gorman lead to 14-0 with 7:56 remaining in the second quarter.

Solomon burst through the line and outran the defense for a 58-yard score with 2:57 left in the first half and on the first play of their following drive, Solomon found a wide open Robert Stanley over the middle for a 73-yard score.

The Gaels forced a quick punt and two plays later Solomon connected with Powell on a 39-yard TD pass with 20 seconds remaining in the half.

Powell added a 65-yard touchdown run and Solomon found Jamir Tillman on a 7-yard TD strike in the third quarter to put the game far out of reach.
— Adam Berchin

Foothill 34, Desert Pines 12 — At Foothill, Drew Doxtator threw four touchdown passes to power the Falcons to a 27-0 lead, and Foothill (8-2) rolled to a Sunrise Region playoff victory over the Jaguars.

Doxtator, who connected on 12 of 26 passes for 160 yards, tossed touchdown passes of 2 and 20 yards to Kyle Keplinger in the third quarter to put the Falcons up 27-0.

Keplinger finished with a game-high seven receptions for 63 yards.

Desert Pines (4-6) closed to within two scores in the fourth quarter. Eric Wilkes broke off a 74-yard TD run, and Travis Nofoa scored on a quarterback sneak from 3 yards out that trimmed the lead to 27-12 with 9:03 left.

But after Tate Warr recovered a muffed punt for the Falcons, Brandon Wiltz scored two plays later on a 15-yard run to seal the win for Foothill.

Foothill jumped ahead early as Doxtator finished off the Falcons’ first two drives of the game with touchdown passes.

He connected on an 18-yard scoring strike with Armando Rodriguez, and then added a 27-yard TD toss to Naim Muhammad that made it 14-0 in the first quarter.

Wilkes had 16 carries for 116 yards to lead Desert Pines.
— Tim Guesman

Liberty 42, Valley 7 — At Liberty, Niko Kapeli rushed for 237 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Patriots opened the Sunrise Region playoffs with a victory over the Vikings.

From the first drive, it was all Liberty as the Patriots marched 78 yards in 14 plays with Kapeli going in from 7 yards out for a 7-0 lead.

After a turnover, Liberty (9-1) was on the board again as quarterback Kai Nacua hit Jared Tuilagi on a 50-yard pass play.

Kapeli added touchdown runs of 6 and 65 yards in the second quarter and the No. 1 seed from the Southeast Legue led 28-0 at halftime.

The Patriots outgained the Vikings (4-6) 359-52 in the first half.

Kapeli, who had 182 yards in the opening half, added a 1-yard score on the first possession. Liberty’s final TD came from freshman Lucas Bogues on a 5-yard TD run in the fourth period.

Valley’s score came on a 13-yard pass from Anthony Sanders to Kennedy Williams.

The Patriots finished with 348 yards on the ground, and added 139 through the air. The Vikings were held to just 174 total yards, 86 on the ground.
— Sam Leeper

Spring Mountain 68, Round Mountain 20 — At Spring Mountain, Meiyako Williams rushed for 159 yards and five touchdowns on 14 carries and passed for 102 yards and three TDs as the Eagles (8-1) routed the Knights (6-4) in a Class 1A state quarterfinal.

Williams wasn’t fazed by a steady snowfall in the first half, scoring on runs of 44, 11, 44, 6 and 16 yards to help Spring Mountain build a 60-14 halftime lead in the program’s first home playoff game.

The junior finished 8-of-14 passing, hooking up with Christopher Munro on TDs of 6 and 9 yards and Leroy Freeman on a 14-yard scoring strike.

Serjio Chavez led the Knights with 58 yards on 17 carries, 63 yards passing and two catches for 65 yards and a score.

Spring Mountain will visit Carlin in a state semifinal at 1 p.m. next Saturday.
— Tristan Aird

Pahranagat Valley 84, Tonopah 0 — At Alamo, Tyler Higbee rushed for 177 yards and five touchdowns as the Panthers (10-0) rolled past the Muckers (4-6) in a Class 1A state quarterfinal.

Austin Poulsen completed 10 of 13 passes for 164 yards and four TDs and scored on a 7-yard run for Pahranagat, which led 66-0 at halftime.

Kade Wadsworth caught six passes for 157 yards and three TDs for the Panthers, who are gunning for their fourth straight state championship.

Caleb Hansen added a pair of 1-yard rushing TDs for Pahranagat, which won its state-record 44th consecutive game. Jeremy Minick capped the scoring with a 57-yard interception return.

White Pine 47, Lincoln County 0 — At Ely, Josh Ashby threw touchdown passes to Travis Johnson and Jacob Johnson, and the Bobcats (10-0) blanked the Lynx (4-6) in a Class 2A state quarterfinal for their third shutout victory of the season.

Logan Center and Clay Mauro returned fumbles for touchdowns for White Pine, which will host Battle Mountain in a state semifinal at 1 p.m. next Saturday.

Devante Valencia and Benjamin Miller rushed for TDs for White Pine, and Jacob Johnson kicked a 37-yard field goal.

White Pine, which has allowed only 74 points all season, is two wins away from its first state title since 1968.