Keplinger steps up for Foothill

Foothill High's Kyle Keplinger woke up feeling Friday was going to be a good day. He never imagined just how good.

The junior running back/wide receiver scored five touchdowns to spark the sixth-ranked Falcons to a 35-26 victory over Desert Pines in the Sunrise Region quarterfinals at Foothill.

"I had a really good feeling about this game," said Keplinger, who scored four offensive touchdowns and one on special teams. "I was psyched up for it all week."

Keplinger wasted no time demonstrating his enthusiasm, capping the Falcons' first possession with a 23-yard touchdown reception from Parker Riggin for a 7-0 lead.

But Foothill (10-1) made its share of first-half mistakes, allowing the Jaguars (5-5) to make it 7-6 when Ri'Chard Green returned an interception off Riggin 55 yards for a touchdown with 5:11 to play in the first quarter.

Keplinger answered with a 3-yard TD run early in the second, but Riggin again was intercepted with 5:54 left in the half. Derrick Shaw converted the opportunity one play later with a 33-yard scoring run to pull the Jaguars within 14-12.

Keplinger again responded, diving for a 1-yard touchdown to give Foothill a 21-12 halftime advantage.

Though the Falcons held the Jaguars to 46 yards in the first half, Desert Pines came out swinging to start the third quarter. Shaw plowed up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown midway through the third to make it 21-20.

Keplinger stopped the bleeding on the ensuing kick with a 98-yard touchdown return to make it 28-20.

"We wanted to get some momentum going," he said. "And we did."

Desert Pines battled back one more time, cutting its deficit to 28-26 on a 5-yard touchdown run by Shaw, but Keplinger's 16-yard scoring sprint gave Foothill a 35-26 lead with 7:33 left.

"Kyle is an explosive player," said Falcons coach Martin Redmond, whose team will play at Las Vegas in the Sunrise semifinals on Thursday. "We try to get him the ball because we know he makes plays."

Foothill's defense took over down the stretch, and Desert Pines never threatened again.

Keplinger finished with 40 yards on 13 carries and 97 yards on four receptions. Riggin completed 12 of 19 passes for 186 yards.

Leon Hayes rushed 20 times for 132 yards for the Jaguars, and Shaw finished with 75 yards on 14 carries.

■ Las Vegas 37, Del Sol 10 -- At Las Vegas High, Lamond Powe and Farrell Victor combined to rush for 286 yards, and Jay Mattox kicked three field goals, lifting the fourth-ranked Wildcats (10-1) over the defending state 4A runners-up in a Sunrise Region quarterfinal.

Powe gained 166 yards on 14 carries, including a 42-yard TD, and Victor supplied 120 yards on 14 carries, with a 16-yard score. Their TDs came in the first half, when the Wildcats took a 27-7 lead.

Mattox, a sophomore, kicked field goals of 42, 39 and 19 yards.

Hasaan Henderson added an 85-yard TD pass to Cameron Rogers. Henderson completed 10 of 19 passes for 159 yards and also ran for a 1-yard score.

Las Vegas' defense limited Southeast qualifier Del Sol (5-6) to 108 yards of offense, 58 on the ground. Chris Marshall had an 8-yard touchdown run but was held to 25 yards on nine carries.

-- Sam Leeper

■ Liberty 34, Rancho 6 -- At Liberty, Kai Nacua threw a pair of touchdown passes, while the Patriots' defense held Rams to 167 yards of offense, and No. 3-ranked Liberty rolled to victory in the Sunrise quarterfinal game, the first home playoff victory for the Patriots.

Liberty (9-1) will shoot for its second home playoff win at 7 p.m. Thursday as it will host Canyon Springs in a Sunrise semifinal.

Against Rancho (5-6), the Patriots controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and controlled the clock for the majority of the game.

Liberty's defense held Rams 1,000-yard rusher Shamel David to 16 yards. Overall, the Patriots' defense held Rancho to 34 yards rushing.

The Patriots' defense was particularly impressive in the second half, limiting Rancho to 36 yards of offense.

Liberty's Niko Kapeli had 17 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown, and Teu Tai and Ty Bird added touchdown runs.

-- Tim Guesman

CLASS 1A

■ Indian Springs 50, Spring Mountain 48 -- At Indian Springs, Adam Reinke overcame an injured back to score the winning TD with 1:27 to play, lifting the second-seeded Thunderbirds (7-2) past the Golden Eagles (6-3) in a Class 1A state quarterfinal.

Reinke, who missed much of the third and fourth quarters because of the injury, scored on an 11-yard run to put Indian Springs on top. He finished with 29 carries for 312 yards and six TDs, also scoring on runs of 20, 30, 20, 80 and 6 yards.

Reinke also completed 7 of 16 passed for 113 yards, including a 40-yard scoring strike to Xavier Pena.

Spring Mountain led 48-36 in the third quarter before Reinke scored on a 6-yard run and completed a 2-point conversion pass to Pena.

■ Pahranagat Valley 68, Tonopah 12 -- At Alamo, Cody Hosier completed 15 of 18 passes for 227 yards and six touchdowns as the top-seeded Panthers (10-0) ousted the No. 4 Muckers (5-5) in a Class 1A state quarterfinal.

Hosier hooked up with Kale Leavitt on scoring strikes of 25, 17 and 12 yards, twice with Tyler Higbee (15 and 1) and another with Kade Wadsworth (7).