Silverado pulls away to beat Coronado, reach 4A title game — PHOTOS
Silverado quarterback Brandon Tunnell carried the ball just five times Friday night, but he made the most of those opportunities.
Though Tunnell’s rushes totaled four yards, three of them were for touchdowns as the Skyhawks dominated the second half for a 42-7 home victory over Coronado in the Class 4A state semifinals.
The win gave Silverado (11-0) its first look at a state championship, as it will play Shadow Ridge for the title in Thursday’s championship game at Allegiant Stadium.
“It’s definitely one of the most hilarious stats anyone’s ever going to see,” Tunnell said of his trio of TDs. “I think they’re just glad to have me as another running back out there.”
Though Donavyn Pellot gave Silverado a 7-0 lead on a 41-yard TD reception from Tunnell midway through the first quarter, Coronado tied it with 6:54 left in the second quarter on a 4-yard pass from Joshua Andrade to Brady Kennedy.
Neither team appeared to have an advantage until Demetrius Jones returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown with 1:05 left in the second quarter, giving the Skyhawks a 13-7 halftime lead.
“I think that was our 11th or 12th defensive touchdown of the season,” said Silverado coach Andy Ostolaza. “That definitely gave us a ton of momentum.”
In fact, Coronado (7-3) was never the same.
Silverado erupted for 22 points in the third quarter, scoring three times on 1-yard keepers by Tunnell to take a 35-7 lead into the fourth.
The Cougars had no answer against a stingy Skyhawks defense.
“Everybody talks about our offense because of the points we’ve put up,” Ostolaza said. “But we think we’ve got one of the best defenses. They just get overlooked because of the scores.”
Tunnell said some adjustments also played a role in Silverado’s impressive second half.
“At halftime we corrected a lot of nervous mistakes,” he said. “We were definitely able to exploit their weaknesses.”
A 10-yard TD pass from Tunnell to Jaden Thrower with 8:31 remaining put the game away.
“The kids know the the previous best record in school history was 10-1 back in 2007,” Ostolaza said. “And we’ve never been to state, so this is a great thing for the school and the system. It’s taken some years, but we’re here now.”
Tunnell added 96 yards on 6-of-12 passing to help the Skyhawks, and teammate Caden Harris rushed 11 times for 106 yards.
Chris Avila led the Cougars with 10 carries for 114 yards.
