Spring Valley QB Cox has breakout game against Bonanza

Spring Valley quarterback Jordan Cox had accounted for only five touchdowns all season entering Thursday’s game.

Cox topped that in one night.

The senior rushed for five touchdowns and passed for another as the Grizzlies defeated visiting Bonanza, 57-44.

Cox rushed for 151 yards on 16 carries. He scored on runs of 35, 5, 1, 28 and 16 yards. He also completed 14 of 20 passes for 237 yards, and hit Nick Santos with a 26-yard TD pass.

“Those are the things that we’ve been looking for (Cox) to do all season,” coach Marcus Teal said. “He’s been getting better each week, and he’s been doing what we want him to, but he hasn’t put it all together. And I think this win showed what our offense can do when he runs it correctly.”

The Grizzlies (3-3, 2-2 Southwest League) had 583 yards of offense in holding off the Bengals (2-4, 2-3). Bonanza led 28-23 at halftime, but the Grizzlies shut out the Bengals in the third quarter to take control.

Cox led Spring Valley on a seven-play, 60-yard drive to open the half, capped by the quarterback’s 28-yard TD, and Spring Valley didn’t trail again.

Santos added a 33-yard TD run and caught the scoring pass from Cox as the Grizzlies took a 43-23 lead after three quarters.

Spring Valley had turned the ball over twice in the first half to help Bonanza take the lead.

“We were just killing ourselves, fumbling the ball and turning the ball over,” Teal said. “We had a nice little calm talk at the half and got things rolling.”

Austyn Wallace added 149 rushing yards, including a 34-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, for Spring Valley.

The Grizzlies are tied with Clark for fourth place in the Southwest League. The top four teams advance to the playoffs.

“We really focused on winning the game, correcting the mistakes we made last week and just getting better,” Teal said. “We haven’t been a good football team, turning the ball over and committing penalties and having a lot of 'me’ plays — guys looking out for themselves and not what’s best for the team.”

Bonanza quarterback Sterling Sprau rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns. He also passed for 187 yards and two scores, but was intercepted three times, twice by Angelo Foschi-Gioeli.