Roundup: Final drive leads Green Valley over Centennial

Green Valley coach Brian Castro caught himself thinking before this season that this could be the first Gators team in his seven-year tenure to start 2-0. For much of Friday night his team didn’t make him look prophetic.

Green Valley’s offense had one last chance to prove Castro right when it took the field at its own 15-yard line, trailing Centennial 21-17 with 3:33 to play. In spurts and fits the team managed to move down the field, until senior Braxton Harms ran right up the middle into the end zone from 4 yards out with 11 seconds remaining to give the Gators a dramatic 24-21 home victory on Friday night.

“We have a great team that fights the whole game,” quarterback A.J. Barilla said. “That’s a great last drive and I had no doubt in my mind that we were going to score there.”

Green Valley’s final drive almost ended early, as the team didn’t move the ball an inch in its first three plays and faced a fourth-and-10 at its own 15 yard-line. Barilla connected with Harms on the right sideline for 13 yards though to keep the game alive, the first of four connections between the pair on the drive.

Barilla, who missed all of last season with an Achilles injury, had an up-and-down game but completed 5 of 9 passes for 65 yards on the 15-play final drive to lead his team to victory.

“I couldn’t be more excited for that young man,” Castro said. “He worked hard to get back from that injury to this point. I think he’s really and truly enjoying the game right now and it’s fun to watch.”

The Gators (2-0) had to climb out of multiple deficits against Centennial (0-2), as the Bulldogs took a 14-3 lead just after halftime when Atoa Pili-Eskeets returned the second-half kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

Sophomore running back Noah Hawthorne scored two third-quarter touchdowns to give Green Valley its first lead of the game at 17-14, but Centennial didn’t lay down. Quarterback Vlad Plotnikov threw a perfect fade to Pili-Eskeets and the Bulldogs regained the lead with 7:22 to play.

Centennial’s defense even sacked Barilla on Green Valley’s next drive and stripped him of the ball, but its offense couldn’t put the game away. Instead, it was the Gators who were ready to move the ball with the game on the line.

“I looked at the clock and there were three minutes and 30 seconds to go. I said ‘look, we’re not going to get another chance. It’s now or never,’” Castro said. “’We have to move the chains and … everybody has to win their job.’ Luckily we won enough plays in that last drive.”

American Heritage (Florida) 31, Liberty 0 — At Plantation, Florida, a week after a resounding victory against an out-of-state opponent, Liberty’s football team experienced the inverse.

The Patriots, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A, had no answer for the American Heritage (Florida) defense and fell 31-0 on the road Friday.

American Heritage, ranked No. 25 in USA Today’s Super 25, got off to an early start when Vanderbilt-bound senior Miles Jones scored on a 2-yard run with 3 minutes, 5 seconds into the game.

Liberty (1-1) held American Heritage off for the rest of the first quarter, but surrendered 17 points in the second quarter. American Heritage (2-0) defensive end Andrew Chatfield returned a fumble 35 yards for a score with 1:05 left in the half to make it 24-0 heading into the locker room.

Tyler Jones led American Heritage with 142 yards rushing and a touchdown on 10 carries.

Sunrise Mountain 52, Eldorado 7 — At Sunrise Mountain, Trayvon Ward rushed for 201 yards and three touchdowns as the Miners rolled past the Sundevils.

The Miners’ ground game was too much for Eldorado all night, as Sunrise Mountain (1-1) racked up 377 yards and seven rushing touchdowns. Ward led the way, scoring three touchdowns on the ground.

Quarterback Tyree Hayes also accounted for three scores for the Miners, running for two and passing for one, an 11-yard strike to Pierce Williams. X’avier Kyles had 124 all-purpose yards, and Anthony Cole-Green chipped in with 78 rushing yards and a late touchdown for Sunrise Mountain

Jaime Rangel threw for 158 yards for the Sun Devils, hooking up with Andres Jimenez on a 57-yard touchdown with only 1:20 elapsed in the game. Jimenez ended up with 111 receiving yards for Eldorado (0-2), which jumped out to a 7-0 lead after three plays and did not score the rest of the way.

Canyon Springs 41, Cheyenne 6 — At Cheyenne, Diamante Burton rushed for a game-high 182 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 carries to lead the Pioneers over the Desert Shields.

Burton added two receiving TDs and a 70-yard kickoff return to add to his highlights.

Canyon Springs opened the scoring late in the first quarter when Kayjon Edwards found Keyon White on a 10-yard scoring pass.

The Pioneers pulled away in the second quarter, scoring three touchdowns in the final 5:12 of the first half. Burton scored his first TD of the day on a 10-yard run.

Johnathan Bailey recovered a blocked punt in the end zone for a score and then intercepted a Cheyenne pass on the following drive to set up a Burton 32-yard touchdown catch from Edwards.

Burton didn’t miss a beat after the half, breaking tackles and outrunning the defense for a 63-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the third quarter.

Edwards connected once again with Burton on a 37-yard catch and run for a score. Edwards finished 11-for-14 for 162 yards and three TDs.

The Desert Shields were able to break the shutout when Devonte Armstrong found Ravion Brown in the end zone for a 23-yard score in the final quarter.

Spring Valley 33, Valley 18 — At Spring Valley, Sylo Staton went 8-for-23 for 151 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Grizzlies over the Vikings. He also scored a rushing TD on a 39-yard quarterback keeper.

The Vikings jumped to an early first-quarter advantage after Endy Diaz connected with Seth Jerrett for a 50-yard TD completion. Their only lead proved to be short-lived, as Spring Valley’s Marquelle Diggs returned an 80-yard kickoff on the next play.

The Grizzlies (2-0) went on to score three more touchdowns in the second quarter, including one on a 10-yard Jonathan Vazquez reception with two seconds remaining in the half.

Spring Valley running back Kevin Benoza led all rushers with 106 yards and one touchdown.

Diaz carried the Vikings offense, completing 17 of 42 passes. He ended the game with 272 yards and three touchdowns. His top target was receiver Trayvon Mack-Escoto, who caught eight passes for 170 yards and two TDs.

Valley (0-1) rebounded after halftime, bringing the deficit to within eight points after Diaz threw a pair of TD receptions to Mack-Escoto.

Cimarron-Memorial 42, Del Sol 19 — At Cimarron-Memorial, senior running back Jordan Norwood rushed for 300 yards on 26 carries, including touchdown runs of 20, 25 and 62 yards to power the Spartans by the Dragons.

Norwood supplied 62 yards on four carries on the opening drive for Cimarron (2-0), capped by a 1-yard TD plunge by quarterback George Tribble. Norwood added a 25-yard scoring run to give the Spartans a 12-6 lead in the first quarter.

Tribble connected with Marcus Poole on a 26-yard screen pass for a touchdown on Cimarron’s third drive, and Norwood’s 62-yard TD sprint increased the lead to 28-12 with 4:58 left in the first half.

Del Sol’s Markell Turner returned the game’s opening kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, and running back Taariq Flowers supplied a 65-yard TD scamper to make it 12-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Dragons’ quarterback Andre Navarez found Barry Williams on an 11-yard TD pass with 2:46 left in the first half to cut the lead to 28-19.

The Spartans held Del Sol scoreless in the second half, and got TD runs of 4 yards from Jordan Muroni and 20 yards from Norwood for the game’s final margin.

Muroni finished with 97 yards on nine carries for Cimarron.

Flowers had 189 yards on 21 carries for the Dragons (0-2).

Moapa Valley 35, Hurricane (Utah) 24 — At Hurricane, Utah, Daxton Longman completed 16 of 31 passes for 358 yards and three touchdowns and added a score on the ground to lead the Pirates by the Tigers.

Derek Reese had seven catches for 227 yards and three scores, and Braeden St. John added 63 yards rushing and a TD and 36 yards receiving for Moapa Valley (2-0), which led 21-16 at halftime.

Colby Longman had an interception on defense, and the Pirates added three fumble recoveries, including second-half recoveries by Jesse Robison and Tyler Holmes.

Boulder City 29, Western 13 — At Boulder City, the Eagles took a 21-0 halftime lead before downing the Warriors.

Shaun Jones had two rushing touchdowns, and Jimmy Dunagan had 62 yards rushing and a score. Briggs Huxford had a 6-yard TD reception and two interceptions on defense for Boulder City.

Rayjon Reed scored a rushing touchdown for Western, and teammate Spencer Guevara recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD.

Snow Canyon (Utah) 35, Las Vegas 13 — At Snow Canyon, Utah, the Warriors’ defense pitched a shutout in the second half in their win over the Wildcats (0-2).

Snow Canyon led 21-13 at halftime.

Parowan (Utah) 72, Calvary Chapel 0 — At Calvary Chapel, Porter Miller rushed for 76 yards and three touchdowns on four carries to power the Rams over the Lions.

As a team, the Rams (2-1) rushed for 339 yards and nine touchdowns. Codey Hanson had a 75-yard TD run on his only carry for Parowan.

Parowan also scored twice on defense with a fumble return and a safety, both of which came in the first quarter.

Kade Sellers provided the most offense in the game for Calvary Chapel (0-1), completing 4 of 9 passes for 58 yards and rushed for eight yards.

The Lions’ longest play from scrimmage came late in the fourth quarter on a 42-yard pass from Sellers to Dylan Sims.

Yerington 15, Democracy Prep 6 — At Rancho, Cade Draper rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown to lead the Lions to victory over the Blue Knights.

The Lions forced five turnovers in the contest.

Both offenses were plagued with penalties and turnovers during a slow first half. The Lions (1-1) created the first scoring opportunity of the game after a 43-yard punt by Koby Shramek that pinned the Democracy Prep offense deep in its own territory. Two plays later, the Lion defense pressured Blue Knight quarterback Micah Gayman into an intentional grounding call in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 halftime lead.

The second half was a repeat of the first half, until quarterback Donovan Coplin connected with Jesus Valdez on a 51-yard touchdown pass to give the Lions a 9-0 lead late in the third quarter.

After forcing the fourth of the five turnovers, a fumble by Gayman, the Lions scored on a 1-yard touchdown run by Draper to take a 15-0 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Democracy Prep offense finally got a spark on 60-yard completion from Gayman to Vanell Meeks. Gayman completed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Kelley Jones on the next play to close out the scoring.

Jones caught six passes for 58 yards to lead Democracy Prep (0-1). Valdez led the Lions with 68 receiving yards.

Lincoln County 20, White Pine 0 — At Panaca, Matthew Hafen completed 9 of 12 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown, and Noah Smith had 78 yards rushing and a score on 12 carries to lead the Lynx by the Bobcats.

Elijah Harr had four catches for 100 yards and a team-high 13 tackles for Lincoln County (1-1), which led 14-0 at halftime.

Landen Smith ran for 59 yards and a score on 11 carries for the Lynx.

Tonopah 72, Independence 31 — At Tonopah, Dillan Otteson completed 17 of 23 passes for 208 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Muckers by the Colts.

Otteson also ran for 84 yards on 11 carries and had five tackles on defense for Tonopah (1-1).

Brandon Scobee had 14 carries for 125 yards, and John Shiflet added 139 yards of total offense — 68 yards receiving, 71 yards rushing — for the Muckers.

Battle Mountain 45, The Meadows 0 — At Battle Mountain, the Longhorns built a 38-0 halftime lead en route to their win over the Mustangs (0-2).

Bobby Kester completed 6 of 13 passes for 99 yards and three touchdowns and added a rushing touchdown for Battle Mountain.

The Meadows fumbled six times and threw an interception.

Laughlin 46, Indian Springs 12 — At Indian Springs, the Cougars downed the Thunderbirds.