Young’s 3 TDs help No. 4 Shadow Ridge roll past Palo Verde — PHOTOS
Shadow Ridge’s Trevin Young came into Friday’s game needing 95 rushing yards to hit 1,000 for the season. The senior didn’t hit that milestone, but he found plenty of ways to help the Mustangs.
Young caught a touchdown pass, rushed for a score and returned an interception for a TD to lead fourth-ranked Shadow Ridge to a 41-17 road win over Palo Verde.
“He’s a heck of a football player, really athletic,” Shadow Ridge coach Travis Foster said of Young, who finished with 37 yards on six carries. “He’s one of the better kids we’ve ever had here in a decade I’ve been here. So, he’s playing really well right now.”
Shadow Ridge struggled to sustain drives in the first half, fumbling four times, with Palo Verde recovering two. But the Mustangs got an unusual turnover of their own to get things going.
Palo Verde led 3-0, and quarterback Joaquin Valdez was looking to dump a middle screen to a receiver on third down. But a Shadow Ridge lineman deflected the pass, which was then tipped by another defender before defensive tackle Nate Giles snagged the ball just before it hit the ground at the Panthers 19-yard line.
“Honestly, that was a big relief,” Young said. “The line just made a big play, and once we got that, I was like ‘Let’s go. We’ve just got to do it as a team.’ ”
Two plays later, Xavion Cross scored on a 12-yard run to put the Mustangs up 7-3, and they wouldn’t trail again.
“It was big to be able to kind of flip the field,” Foster said of the interception. “We were struggling, putting the ball on the ground with four or five fumbles in the first half. That’s how you lose football games. So when the defense bails you out like that and gives you the short field, it’s always good to take advantage.”
Shadow Ridge also took advantage of its final opportunity before halftime, going 88 yards on five plays capped by a 36-yard TD pass from Isaiah Ruiz to Young with seven seconds left in the half to push the lead to 14-3 at the break. It was the only pass the Mustangs completed in the game.
Shadow Ridge (8-1, 4-0 Class 5A Desert League) came out and showed the type of football it likes to play on the opening drive of the second half, marching 72 yards on 10 plays and eating up 6 minutes, 50 seconds. The Mustangs had four first downs on that drive, matching the team’s total for the first half. Young capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run.
“That’s what we’re trying to be,” Foster said. “We want to make sure that we’re limiting the opposition’s possessions. We’re grinding out clock and putting pressure on the defense, for sure.”
Ruiz had a 23-yard TD run with 44 seconds to go in the third quarter to push the lead to 27-3, and Young picked off a Valdez pass and raced 46 yards for a TD just 12 seconds later to make it 34-3.
Shadow Ridge has won eight straight games since opening the season with a 31-21 loss to Snow Canyon (Utah) on Aug. 22.
“I’m going to stay awake at night thinking about that first one, because I felt like we were the better team,” Foster said. “If we played them a week later, I think that the outcome would have been a little bit different. But I’m really, really proud of our kids. I can’t remember the last time we won eight games in a row, so it’s a big deal for us for sure.”
Ruiz had 147 yards on 12 carries for the Mustangs, who close out the regular season against top-ranked Bishop Gorman on Oct. 24.
“Honestly, I think we’ve just got to give it a team effort,” Young said. “It’s been really, really good so far this season. We’ve got to move on to next week. We’ve got to face the big Gorman. And we’ve just got to keep on moving through practice and everything, just plan for them and keep going.”
Valdez completed 13 of 22 passes for 174 yards and two TDs for Palo Verde (3-6, 1-3).
