Wildcats show strong finishing kick

Green Valley put together impressive touchdown drives on its opening possession of each half in Friday’s Sunrise Region playoff game at Las Vegas.

The Gators could do little with the ball the rest of the time, however, and their upset bid eventually fell short in a 37-21 loss to the Wildcats.

“Our kids just kind of sucked it up and were able to get the job done in the end,” Las Vegas coach James Thurman said of his first playoff win. “We got a few breaks and made a few plays.”

Hasaan Henderson threw for a touchdown and ran for another in the fourth quarter to help Las Vegas (9-1) pull away.

Las Vegas, the lone remaining team from the Northeast League, will play at Liberty in the region semifinals on Thursday.

Green Valley (5-5) grabbed a quick lead after taking the opening kickoff and driving 80 yards on seven plays, capped by a 39-yard TD pass from Jacob Olim to Sean Ferraro.

The Gators fell behind 21-14 at halftime, but after holding the Wildcats to a three-and-out to open the third quarter, Green Valley went 55 yards on nine plays to tie the game at 21 on a 10-yard pass from Olim to Khris Contreras.

Aside from those two drives, Green Valley accumulated just 149 yards of total offense.

“We came out flat. We were sleeping on them a little bit. But we picked it up and decided to get our heads in the game,” said Farrell Victor, who ran for 107 yards and three touchdowns for Las Vegas.

While Green Valley found success at the beginning of the first and third quarters, Las Vegas made huge plays at the end of each period.

Trailing 7-0, the Wildcats called timeout to punt with the wind on the final play of the first quarter and downed the ball inside the 1 after a 52-yard punt. Las Vegas forced a three-and-out and scored on the ensuing drive on a 1-yard run by Victor after receiving a Green Valley punt at the Gators’ 43-yard line.

The play sparked a huge second quarter for the Wildcats as Victor ran for three touchdowns in the period.

Las Vegas also closed out the third quarter with a big play. After offsetting penalties enabled Green Valley to run one untimed play inside the Las Vegas 20 while trailing 24-21, Roderick Jackson intercepted an Olim pass in the end zone to halt the scoring threat.

“I think they came out with more intensity than us, but every time they scored, we woke up and played hard,” Jackson said.

Las Vegas took control from there.

Henderson ran for a 52-yard score less than a minute after the interception, then rolled right and fired a strike on the sideline in the end zone to Josh Mayfield for a 12-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter to cap the scoring.

Henderson finished with 104 yards on the ground and threw for 94 yards and a score.

Aaron Love ran for 174 yards for Green Valley, which also got a 98-yard kickoff return from Ferraro.