Missteps don’t derail Spring Valley

Usually a team's sub-par performance doesn't make an athlete happy. But Spring Valley's Stefan Klein came out of Friday night's football game excited, even if he thought his team didn't play its best.

Spring Valley overcame three second-half turnovers to defeat visiting Desert Pines 23-16. Klein's 1-yard touchdown run with four seconds to play broke a 16-16 tie.

"The whole game we played not even close to our potential," said Klein, who rushed for 76 yards and two TDs on 13 carries. "And to know we can win playing like that makes me excited to see what we can do when we're at the top of our game.

"If we're at the top of our game, no one's stopping us. That was the dumps for us this week. I hope we never see that again."

Spring Valley (2-0) struggled offensively for most of the game, and Desert Pines (1-1) took a 16-10 lead on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Dalton Leilua to Josh Williams with

9:44 to play.

Williams caught the wide receiver screen and shook off two defenders at the line of scrimmage before taking the ball across the field for the score.

The Grizzlies finally showed offensive life late in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Kyle Wolak, who had been intercepted three times on his first six second-half passes, completed consecutive attempts, including a 52-yarder on a swing pass to Eric Dyer to move the ball to the Desert Pines 12.

Klein then scored on a 12-yard run on the next play, but Wolak's extra point failed to leave the game tied at 16 with 4:49 to play.

Spring Valley's defense stopped the Jaguars on three plays, forcing a punt and giving the Grizzlies the ball at the 50-yard line with 2:16 left.

Spring Valley completed one pass, then used a straight-ahead rushing attack to move the ball deep into Desert Pines territory. Jacques Adams had a 14-yard run to move the ball to the 1-yard line with 9.7 second left, setting up Klein's winning touchdown.

"I think the major part of it is them going both ways and us not," Klein said of his team's fourth-quarter surge. "We have a set offense and a set defense, so when the fourth quarter comes, we still have fresh legs compared to them having six or seven people going both ways."

Wolak's 30-yard field goal accounted for all of Spring Valley's first-half points, and Desert Pines managed only a safety in the first half.

Kimani Bullard returned an interception 80 yards for a touchdown to give the Jaguars a 9-3 lead in the third quarter before Tracy Lide's 50-yard punt return for a TD gave the Grizzlies a 10-9 edge.

Spring Valley coach Johnny Macon was pleased with the win but not with his team's execution. "You know what, it'll put some hair on these guys' chests," Macon said. "At the end of the day, we're 2-0."

The Spring Valley defense did an outstanding job of corralling speedy Desert Pines runner Kwame Banks. Banks had 155 yards on eight carries in the season opener but managed 71 yards on 21 tries on Friday.

Banks was forced to play a bigger role, as the Jaguars were without running back Mike Ball, who missed the game with an ankle injury. Ball rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season.