Senior trio helps Mustangs secure playoff berth

It was Senior Night at Shadow Ridge, so it was only fitting the senior trifecta of quarterback Dustin Puia, running back Cody Alfar and do-everything standout J Henderson led the Mustangs to a playoff-clinching, 32-7 win over Spring Valley on Friday.

It marked the second consecutive season the Mustangs (4-4, 2-2 Northwest League) earned a berth in the Division I Sunset Region playoffs and continued a rebuilding process for a program that was 0-9 two years ago.

“We didn’t click together back then, but as the years progressed, all the kids we played with have played together for a few years now,” said Henderson, who caught six passes for 78 yards and added two interceptions. “We know each other, we know what we need to do, we can depend on each other to get the plays done (and) tonight on our Senior Night we knew that us seniors had to ball out.

“I don’t really care about big plays or anything; I just wanna hit hard, play hard and get it done.”

And while Henderson used a blue-collar approach to contribute on both sides of the ball, Alfar emerged as the big-play specialist for the Mustangs on offense, rushing for 190 yards on 22 attempts and scoring on runs of 10, 36 and 10 yards.

Alfar’s performance pushed his season totals to 1,031 yards and eight touchdowns.

Puia, meanwhile, overcame leg cramps throughout the game to complete 15 of 22 pass attempts for 193 yards.

“We wanted to set the tone,” Puia said. “The coaches said all week that we were more physical than them, but we would have to show it. Lately we’ve been playing physical, but we haven’t been playing smart. At the beginning, I felt like we came out a little sloppy offensively, but we corrected some things and were able to start clicking.”

The Mustangs, who earned the No. 3 seed in the Northwest League, outgained the Spring Valley, 460-184.

Shadow Ridge’s defense was outstanding, allowing the Grizzlies (2-6, 1-3) to get past midfield only two times over 11 possessions. And on one of those two occasions, Spring Valley’s Marcus Dawson fumbled away the ball deep in Mustangs’ territory at the end of a 40-yard run.

The Mustangs forced four turnovers overall and recorded a safety in the first half.

Spring Valley senior quarterback James Donnelly, who was picked off three times, completed 5 of 16 pass attempts for 58 yards and threw one touchdown, a 42-yard strike to senior Logan Cruz.

Pending the final standings in the Southwest League, Alfar said he and the Mustangs are eager to open the first round of the playoffs at Legacy or Centennial and continue to build the foundation for future Shadow Ridge teams.

“For me it’s been really important to build tradition,” said Alfar, who is in his first year with the Mustangs after moving to Las Vegas from New Mexico. “This is the team that is building the tradition for future Shadow Ridge teams. This is the team that is going to be talked about for a while, this is the team that is going to build the future generations of teams and this is the new Shadow Ridge.”