Defense, big plays boost Legacy past Cimarron-Memorial

Legacy football coach John Isola was looking for his first win as he sent his players onto the field to face 10th-ranked Cimarron-Memorial on Saturday.

Thanks to a stingy defense and several big offensive plays, he got it.

DeMichael Walker rushed 20 times for 141 yards and two touchdowns to lead the visiting Longhorns, who erupted for 20 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 35-6 victory over the Spartans.

Isola said he knew his squad was better than its 0-3 record.

“We’ve played some good teams this season,” he said. “We’ve played a tough schedule and we’ve made some mistakes, but we really felt we were in those games. We knew if we could keep from turning the ball over tonight, we could win.”

Legacy, which was plagued by turnovers in its first three games, committed just one Saturday. It barely mattered as the defense held Cimarron (2-2) to 27 first-half yards and 121 yards on the night.

“Our defense has been fast and physical,” Isola said. “We knew that way back in camp. They come in and bring it to everybody.”

Both defenses looked strong early, as the game’s first score did not come until Skye Parker kicked a 42-yard field goal to put the Longhorns ahead 3-0 with 3:05 remaining in the first half.

Legacy took advantage of good field position on its next drive, and Walker made it 9-0 with a 36-yard TD run. A fake field goal resulted in a 6-yard TD run by A.J. Sotelo to make it 15-0 late in the third, and the Longhorns defense maintained that lead by allowing the Spartans just 15 yards in the quarter.

Things got out of control in the fourth, as Walker and teammate Johnny Sarabia had TD runs, and Kourde Roberts scored on a 22-yard pass from Tanoa Alapati.

“The key was execution,” Isola said. “We made some adjustments in the second half, and the kids believed in what we were doing.”

Cimarron-Memorial answered with a late TD run by Tyree Riley.

Alapati completed 5 of 11 passes for the Longhorns.

Quarterback Derek Morefield carried six times for 45 yards for the Spartans.

■ Clark 34, Pahrump Valley 13 — At Clark, the Chargers were outgained 359 to 306 yards but held off the Trojans.

Clark totaled 219 yards in the first half, 89 on its first offensive play. Nick Kinnard found Isaiah Lyles May over the middle for a short pass, but May found a lane to the end zone.

Kinnard finished with 184 yards passing, including a 55-yard touchdown to Marquice Stuart, who caught three passes for 95 yards. Kinnard ran for 53 yards on six carries with a 3-yard touchdown.

Thomas Gascoigne ran for 123 yards on 22 carries and scored both of Pahrump Valley’s touchdowns. Jeremiah England added 60 yards on nine carries for the Trojans, who rushed for 300 yards and tallied 19 first downs but had five drives stall inside the 30-yard line.

— Jesse Vineyard

■ Faith Lutheran 32, Mojave 28 — At Faith Lutheran, Brenden Joyce came off the bench for the last three plays of the game and hit Mark Rubalcaba for a 77-yard score on fourth-and-10 with one second remaining for Faith Lutheran.

The final play was the only time in the game Mojave (4-1, 2-1 Division 1-A Sunset) trailed after dominating the first and fourth quarters and holding leads of 14-0 and 28-20. Ty Flanagan rushed for 122 yards for the Rattlers.

Rubalcaba finished with three catches for 100 yards. Christian Marshall had 11 carries for 91 yards and three scores for Faith Lutheran (2-3, 1-2).

— Neil Grepke

■ Sierra Vista 29, Cheyenne 14 —- At Cheyenne, the Mountain Lions used two kickoff returns for touchdowns to overcome having just six offensive plays during the third quarter to pull away.

Randal Grimes returned the second-half kickoff 80 yards to break a 7-7 tie, and Maliek Broady brought one back 77 yards about five minutes later en route to 22 third-quarter points by the Mountain Lions (4-1, 2-1 Sunset).

Broady led the Lions with 53 hard-fought yards on 16 carries and a 20-yard TD reception. Oscar Aliaga completed 2 of 5 passes, both for touchdowns — one to Broady and a 47-yard strike to Andrew Peterson.

Cheyenne (2-3, 2-1) was led by David Walker’s 166 yards on 24 carries.

— W.G. Ramirez

■ Silverado 62, Bonanza 7 — At Bonanza, Deyon McKinney rushed for 170 yards on 12 carries and scored four first-quarter touchdowns as the Skyhawks (2-2) cruised past the Bengals (0-5).

McKinney scored on a 40-yard sprint untouched up the middle and again on a 12-yard carry on the ensuing drive after Silverado’s Jarrett Alipio recovered a fumble on Bonanza’s first play.

The Skyhawks turned two onside kicks into touchdowns — a 2-yard Alipio-to-McKinney pass and a 5-yard keeper by Alipio — and scored on McKinney’s 73-yard punt return.

Bonanza’s ByJon Large had a 45-yard run and hauled in a 22-yard TD strike from Cannon Reid on the final play.

— Brennan Karle

■ Canyon Springs 41, Eldorado 14 — At Canyon Springs, Bradley Alexander threw three second-quarter touchdown passes to help the No. 8 Pioneers hand the No. 10 Sundevils their first loss.

Alexander connected on 12 of 18 passes for 180 yards for Canyon Springs (3-1), with TD passes of 22, 19 and 27 yards.

Eldorado rallied behind Joshua Brown, who threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Shane Brown with 1:00 left in the second quarter, then had a 6-yard touchdown run to cap the first drive of the third quarter to trim the Pioneer lead to 21-14.

Zaviontay Stevenson had 17 carries for 107 yards for Canyon Springs.

— Tim Guesman

■ Shadow Ridge 45, Valley 20 — At Valley, a huge second quarter by the Mustangs was the difference.

Senior quarterback Matthew Howitz found tight end Michael Payton for a 12-yard touchdown, ran for a weaving 45-yard score, hit Dexter Kie for a 69-yard scoring strike and capped the outburst with a 15-yard TD just before halftime.

Dominick Wilson rushed for 136 yards for the Mustangs (2-2), and Kie returned a kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown.

Iyen Medlock hit Jeremy Haywood for a score and picked up two 1-yard touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Haywood threw for 101 yards for Valley (0-4).

— Mike James

■ Moapa Valley 54, Rancho 0 — At Rancho, Moapa Valley struck for touchdowns of 52, 42 and 47 yards during the first quarter of a lopsided win.

Senior Zach Hymas opened with a pinpoint strike to Cole Mulcock for a 52-yard touchdown on his first throw of the game. His second was a 42-yard score to RJ Hubert. He finished with 225 yards passing, ending his night at halftime with Moapa Valley (5-0) ahead 34-0.

Rancho running back Robert Howard, could amass just 36 yards on 23 attempts as Rancho (0-5) was held to 135 rushing yards -- 57 on a run by Nathan Guido, who had the ball stripped on the play.

— Adam Helmsing

■ The Meadows 52, Laughlin 6 — At The Meadows, six players found the end zone for the Mustangs.

After a Laughlin fumble on its first drive, quarterback Jacob Gleason threw his first of two TD passes, finding Adam Martinez for a 40-yard score for The Meadows (3-2, 1-0 Division III Southern).

Robert Osuna led the way for the Cougars (0-4, 0-2) with 97 yards rushing, including a 39-yard touchdown.

— Jordan Aguilar

■ Chaparral 28, Del Sol 6 — At Chaparral, the Cowboys’ defense gave up just 21 yards after halftime and scored 28 unanswered points to top the Dragons.

Chaparral quarterback Jermoe Williamson completed 7 of 12 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Casey Acosta for a 48-yard strike and Seitu Wyche on a 58-yard slant on his first two passes of the third quarter. On the next possession, Williamson ran 36 yards up the middle for a score to give Chaparral (2-3, 1-1 Division I-A Sunrise) a 21-6 lead.

Daniel Tyus gave Del Sol (3-2, 1-2) an early lead with a 2-yard TD run and finished with 45 yards on 17 carries.

— Ashton Ferguson

Virgin Valley 54, Sunrise Mountain 18 — At Mesquite, Junior Paongo rushed for 150 yards and four touchdowns on the day of his father’s funeral to lead the Bulldogs (3-2, 1-1 Sunrise) by the Miners (0-5, 0-3).

Desert Pines 26, Boulder City 20 — At Boulder City, Gianni Breland opened the scoring with a fumble return for a touchdown early in the third quarter and added a touchdown catch as the Jaguars (4-1, 2-1 Sunrise) held off the Eagles (3-2, 1-1).