Panthers get healthy fast

Banged up a bit the past few weeks, top-ranked Palo Verde was back at full strength Friday night at Arbor View. And it showed.

Chaz Thomas, Torin Harris and Tyrone Blake rushed for two touchdowns apiece as the deep Panthers rolled to a 48-21 road win over the ninth-ranked Aggies.

"We got this nice shiny pistol, and we had all our bullets in it tonight," Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost said. "Our kids really came out and got after it. We have exceptional team speed, and it kind of shows on a good turf field like this."

Southern Nevada's only unbeaten team, the Panthers scored on their second play from scrimmage -- an 88-yard sprint by Blake -- to take a 7-0 lead and never trailed.

With the game tied 14-14, Palo Verde (8-0, 5-0 Northwest) scored three touchdowns in a 3:42 span bridging the first and second halves to take control.

Harris, who has committed to play for Southern California next year, scored from 15 yards out to make it 21-14 with 2:43 left in the first half, and Thomas bulled his way in from 7 yards out with 16 seconds left to make it 28-14.

"When they scored that one just before the half, that was tough," Arbor View coach Dan Barnson said. "We go as fast as we can on offense, that's our style, and we gave them just enough time to stick one in before the half. But we're not going to change the way we play."

Harris had only three carries, but he scored on two of them, including a 57-yard scamper down the sideline 59 seconds into the second half that gave the Panthers a 35-14 lead.

"It's special having a guy like Torin Harris who can do a lot of things like that," Rost said.

Palo Verde gained nearly 500 yards total offense as it taught Arbor View a lesson in a game that was supposed to serve as a test for the Panthers.

"This was a nice little win because there was a lot of talk that Arbor View was going to come in and upset us," Rost said. "Our kids treated this like a Cheyenne game. They were real focused all week long."

Taylor Wooten rushed for 117 yards on 28 carries to lead the Aggies (5-3, 2-3).

• Chaparral 17, Eldorado 14 -- At Chaparral, senior Carl Vanlandingham kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8.6 seconds remaining as the host Cowboys rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to beat the rival Sundevils and retain the Merlin Olsen Cleat trophy.

Greg Tucker intercepted a pass for Chaparral (3-5, 2-3 Northeast) midway through the fourth quarter, and six plays later, Cowboys quarterback Jermal Turner scored on a 1-yard plunge with 4:18 remaining. Vanlandingham, who was named homecoming king at halftime, booted the extra point to tie the score at 14.

On the ensuing kickoff, Edward Weist recovered Vanlandingham's perfectly placed pooch kick along the right sideline to give Chaparral possession at the Sundevils 40-yard line. Eldorado (4-4, 2-2) sacked Turner on first-and-goal from the 15, but he hit Devian Blow for a 10-yard gain and ran 4 yards up the middle to set up Vanlandingham's winner.

The Sundevils went up 7-0 when Tone Gatewood brought the opening kickoff back 85 yards for a touchdown, and Gatewood added a 5-yard touchdown run with 43.7 seconds left in the second quarter to put Eldorado on top 14-0. However, earlier on the drive, Sundevils quarterback JaQuorrey Williams suffered a separated throwing shoulder, and Eldorado struggled to move the ball in the second half without him.

Isaiah Washington led the Cowboys with 104 yards rushing and had a key fourth-down conversion one play before Turner bolted 23 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-7 with 5:45 to go in the third quarter.

-- David Schoen

• Basic 47, Foothill 30 -- At Foothill, Anthany Lessier had two rushing touchdowns and two interceptions -- including one he returned for a score -- to help the eighth-ranked Wolves (6-2, 4-0 Southeast) beat the Falcons and clinch a playoff berth.

Lessier's first interception was a key. Foothill had taken a 17-14 lead in the second quarter and was driving when Lessier picked off a pass and raced 55 yards to the end zone.

Lessier scored on runs of 9 and 23 yards in the third quarter to put the Wolves up 40-17.

Foothill (3-5, 1-3), which outgained Basic 333-270, battled back in the fourth quarter on a pair of Aaron Dupin-to-F.J. Funtila touchdown passes to make it 40-30 with 4:03 left.

The Falcons appeared to cut the lead to three with 2:20 left on a fumble return for a touchdown. But Basic quarterback Robby Faiman was ruled down before the ball came loose.

Four plays later, Faiman threw his second TD pass of the game, connecting with Justin Burdno on a 36-yard strike, to secure the victory.

Faiman threw for 204 yards on 9-of-12 passing.

Conner Afoa had a 92-yard kickoff return for Foothill.

-- Tim Guesman

• Cimarron-Memorial 40, Centennial 20 -- At Cimarron, Stephen Nixon rushed 17 times for 279 yards and four touchdowns to lead the ninth-ranked Spartans past the Bulldogs.

Cimarron (5-3, 4-1 Northwest) took control early, with Nixon breaking loose for a 53-yard touchdown on the third play. He expanded the Spartans' lead to 13-0 with a 62-yard run midway through the first quarter.

After a Cimarron fumble late in the quarter, Brandon Wright scored on a 6-yard carry to cut Centennial's deficit to 13-7.

But Nixon, who racked up 218 yards in the first half, scored twice more in the second quarter, and the Spartans took a 34-7 lead into halftime.

Wright, who scored again on an 88-yard run in the third quarter, finished with 106 yards on nine carries for the Bulldogs (2-6, 0-5). Teammate Chris Henderson completed 15 of 24 passes for 145 yards.

-- Jeff Wollard

• Sierra Vista 28, Durango 14 -- At Sierra Vista, Akil Sharp rushed for 252 yards and three touchdowns on 27 carries to lead a punishing ground game as the Lions (3-5, 2-3 Southwest) defeated the Trailblazers (1-7, 1-4 Southwest).

Sharp scored on Sierra Vista's second drive with an 18-yard run in the first quarter. Jeremy Green threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Chris Zatezalo early in the second quarter, and Sharp added a 45-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0 at the half.

Durango's Julio Mora, who rushed for 91 yards, scored on a 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter, but Sharp answered for the Lions with a 3-yard touchdown.

Romell Maxwell capped the scoring on a 58-yard pass from Thomas Flanagan.

-- Brennan Karle

• Bishop Gorman 57, Western 8 -- At Western, Chase Cresto threw three touchdown passes as 12 Gaels players scored in a rout of the Warriors.

Gorman (8-1, 4-0), which won its 12th straight Southwest game, remained tied atop the league standings with Bonanza.

Cresto, who completed all five of his pass attempts, threw TDs of 2 yards to Jordan Welte, 34 yards to Xavier Grimble and 30 yards to Bud Reschke.

The Gaels had five other players score touchdowns, including John Therrell on a 58-yard punt return and 230-pound offensive lineman Evan Palelei on a 2-yard run.

Western (1-6, 1-4) scored its only touchdown on an 85-yard kickoff return by Anthony Garrett.

-- Sam Leeper

• Spring Valley 54, Pahrump Valley 0 -- At Pahrump, Jacques Adams ran 12 times for 212 yards and three touchdowns in less than three quarters as the seventh-ranked Grizzlies (6-1, 4-1 Southwest) overpowered the Trojans.

Adams had touchdown runs of 41, 42 and 55 yards.

When Spring Valley coach Kelly Murphy began to liberally substitute his backups, the Trojans (1-7, 0-5) had netted only 53 yards. They didn't get into Spring Valley territory until late in the fourth quarter when Ande Floyd broke a 50-yard run to the 25.

Quarterback Anton Stallworth threw TD passes of 69 yards to Jeff Fajardo and 8 yards to Aaron Smith-Allen in the first half.

-- Don McDermott

• Bonanza 56, Clark 33 -- At Clark, Antonio Beals rushed for 304 yards and six touchdowns as the Bengals beat the Chargers.

Bonanza's Yul Swindle returned the opening kickoff 95 yards to score. The Bengals (6-2, 5-0 Southwest) then recovered a fumble on Clark's opening possession, and Beals capped a 73-yard drive with a 31-yard touchdown run.

Beals also had touchdown runs of 67 and 19 yards in the first half for Bonanza, which finished with 416 yards of offense on 28 plays and took a 35-14 lead into halftime.

Clark pulled within 35-27 on third-quarter touchdown runs by Aaron Arlt and Anthony Lotta.

But Beals added second-half TD runs of 11 yards, 1 yard and 63 yards.

-- Matt Maxson

• Liberty 32, Coronado 8 -- At Liberty, Shawn Murray rushed for 160 yards and four touchdowns and passed for another score as the Patriots (4-4, 2-3 Southeast) beat the Cougars (4-4, 1-4).

Murray had touchdown runs of 41, 11, 20 and 17 yards. But perhaps his best play was a 74-yard TD pass to wide receiver Anthony Norris after taking a handoff from quarterback Ryan Doty late in the first half.

Coronado was held to 3 net yards rushing and committed nine delay-of-game penalties, preventing the offense from finding much of a rhythm.

Dane Cooper led the Cougars with 119 yards passing and a touchdown.

-- Sean Jaramillo

• Cheyenne 42, Shadow Ridge 0 -- At Shadow Ridge, Donnel Thompson's 45-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game set the tone as the fourth-ranked Desert Shields (7-1, 4-1 Northwest) routed the Mustangs (2-6, 1-4).

Marcus Sullivan ran for a game-high 138 yards and two touchdowns and also caught an 83-yard TD pass from Kaeo Helekahi on Cheyenne's only pass attempt.

Terence Brison added two touchdown runs in the second quarter to give the Desert Shields a 36-0 lead at the half.

Cheyenne forced five turnovers and held Shadow Ridge to 100 yards.

-- Kevin Klein

• Legacy 47, Mojave 0 -- At Mojave, Deshae Edwards ran for 155 yards and had three touchdowns, including an 80-yard punt return in the first quarter, as the sixth-ranked Longhorns stormed past the Rattlers.

Legacy put the game out of reach with a 26-point second quarter. Zach Monticelli threw a 30-yard TD pass to Richard Johnson, Edwards ran 38 yards for a score, and Martell Crockett and Prince Oroke each added a rushing touchdown.

Oroke also had the only score of the second half, a 53-yard TD run, and finished with 102 yards on eight carries.

Legacy held Mojave (0-7, 0-5) to 112 yards of total offense.

-- Adam Berchin

• Canyon Springs 34, Valley 13 -- At Canyon Springs, quarterback Jamal Martin passed for 114 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 101 yards and a score to lead the Pioneers over the Vikings.

Canyon Springs running back Devin Rimmey rushed for 108 yards on 20 carries and hauled in a 65-yard pass from Martin for a touchdown.

Quarterback Kerwynn Williams carried the load for Valley, rushing for 174 yards and two scores, including a 75-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

-- Brian Danise