Second-half interceptions save Basic

Last week, the Basic defense allowed two late touchdowns in an upset loss to Coronado.

On Friday night, the unit intercepted three passes in the second half to help the 10th-ranked Wolves defeat No. 9 Silverado 24-21 at Basic.

“All three of our captains are in our secondary, so we expect big things from those guys, and they came through big today,” Basic coach Jeff Cahill said.

Dante Rogers got the first interception for Basic (4-1, 1-1 Southeast League), out-wrestling a Silverado receiver for the ball in the Wolves end zone to preserve a narrow Basic lead in the third quarter. It was a DeVonte Boyd pick after the Skyhawks had taken the lead in the fourth quarter that changed the game.

Boyd jumped a short route and came up with the ball at Silverado’s 27-yard line.

“We really needed to make a play, and that was a big play for us,” Boyd said. “I knew they were going to run it because they were running it the whole game. I read the quarterback’s eyes, and I jumped it.”

Three plays later, Basic quarterback Vince Carducci ran in his second score of the game to put the Wolves in front for good. The offense struggled at times to move the ball but was able to capitalize on the short field.

“It’s a team game. Sometimes one thing’s clicking and other times the other (unit) is, and you just have to take advantage of everything you get,” Cahill said. “I thought we did a really good job of taking advantage of the things our defense created.”

Basic’s defense wasn’t finished. Adrian Fleetwood pulled down yet another interception of Savon Moniz on Silverado’s next possession. Fleetwood returned the ball 14 yards to the Silverado 18, and a personal foul moved the ball inside the 10-yard line.

After a sack and penalty, Carducci scrambled and eventually found Matthew Dembinski open in the corner for a 25-yard touchdown.

“We have good receivers, and we just made a play there,” Carducci said. “We got the momentum and took advantage of it. Just like in Madden (video game).”

The score put Basic ahead 24-14 with 4:28 to play. Silverado (2-2, 0-2) scored on a 1-yard run by Corey Iwata with 1:18 to play, but Boyd recovered the onside kick to preserve the win for the Wolves.

“Nobody wants to go 0-2 in this division. It’s way too tough to start 0-2,” Boyd said. “Last week, we know we should have won the game. This gets us back in the direction we want to be headed.”

Carducci passed for 168 yards and a touchdown and ran for two scores. Darien Spencer caught seven passes for 86 yards, including a heads-up play that led to Basic points.

After two Skyhawks broke up a Basic pass late in the first half, Spencer hauled in the ricochet with one second remaining, allowing the Wolves to kick a field goal and take a 10-7 lead into halftime.

Josh Curtis caught eight passes for 96 yards and two TDs for Silverado.