Pioneers’ efficiency, depth on display

Canyon Springs drove all the way to Rancho's 5-yard line before fumbling the ball away on its opening drive.

It proved to be the only time the Pioneers didn't reach the end zone in the first half Friday night, as they racked up 36 points before intermission.

The result of Canyon Springs' consistency was a 17-point halftime lead and a 58-37 victory at Rancho High.

The third-ranked Pioneers (6-1, 4-0 Northeast Division) were so efficient in the first half that even a leg injury to standout quarterback Devonte Christopher could not derail their offense.

Backup Michael McWilliams entered for the final play of a touchdown drive, then threw a 30-yard pass to Juron Criner to complete the next drive before Christopher returned for the final series of the half. That resulted in a 51-yard TD pass to Criner.

For Criner, it didn't matter who was throwing him the ball, or for that matter, handing it to him.

The senior receiver caught six passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns and took his only carry 47 yards for a score on a reverse in the third quarter.

Rancho receiver DiJon Holman tried to keep pace with Criner, catching five passes for 130 yards and three TDs, but the Pioneers were too strong.

DeCasio Collins added 112 yards and a rushing TD for Canyon Springs. Christopher threw for 186 yards and two scores and ran for a 63-yarder.

He exited briefly late in the second quarter, then left for good after apparently aggravating the injury in the third. In relief, McWilliams threw for 87 yards and three scores.

James Cammack threw for 297 yards and three scores for Rancho (4-4, 1-3). He also ran for two touchdowns.

• Palo Verde 56, Legacy 8 -- At Legacy, second-ranked Palo Verde (7-0, 4-0 Northwest) used a stout running game and stifling defense to roll over the Longhorns (0-7, 0-4).

The Panthers had 359 yards rushing, led by Chaz Thomas, who ran for 92 yards and a touchdown. Alex Bonczyk hauled in a 53-yard touchdown pass, returned an interception 25 yards for a TD and added eight points as a kicker.

Legacy running back Prince Oroke had 113 yards and a touchdown on nine carries.

-- Brian Danise

• Mojave 26, Shadow Ridge 20 -- At Mojave, the No. 6 Rattlers made a fourth-down stop on the final play to preserve the win over the Mustangs.

Mojave (7-0, 4-0 Northwest) led by 12 points in the fourth quarter before Shadow Ridge (2-5, 0-4) made it interesting.

Fueled by a 62-yard pass from Chris Jones to Preston Davis, the Mustangs moved to the Mojave 5-yard line with just over two minutes to go. Chauncey Moore scored his second TD of the night on the next play, and the Mustangs pulled to with 26-20.

On the ensuing possession, the Rattlers reached midfield and faced fourth-and-4. Rattlers quarterback Jordan Cannon was stopped for no gain, and Shadow Ridge had a chance for the upset.

The Mustangs moved to the Mojave 41, but Jones threw four straight incompletions and Mojave stayed unbeaten.

Cannon threw first-half TD passes of 35 yards to Chris McSwain and 38 to Deandre Taylor. All of the Shadow Ridge TDs were on the ground, with two by Moore and one by Deantwan Miller III.

Taylor and Reggie Powers combined for 145 of Mojave's 188 rushing yards, and each scored in the second half.

-- Sam Leeper

• Cheyenne 14, Centennial 7 -- At Centennial, the 10th-ranked Desert Shields (5-1, 4-0 Northwest) held the Bulldogs (3-4, 0-4) to 125 total yards -- only 7 on the ground -- and nearly had a second straight shutout.

Cheyenne built a 14-0 lead on a 1-yard run by Jacorey LeFear and a 3-yard pass from LeFear to Sherrod Shingles.

Centennial scored with 46 seconds left on a 1-yard run by Julius Smith.

The Desert Shields blanked Shadow Ridge last week and have allowed only 22 points in their last five games.

V'son Milton rushed for 96 yards on 15 carries for the Desert Shields, who had 172 rushing yards.

-- Bartt Davis

• Clark 33, Durango 0 -- At Clark, the Chargers gained their first Southwest Division victory in five years, getting two touchdowns each from Dimarko Shoulders and Octavian Brown.

Shoulders opened the game with a 98-yard kickoff return for a score and added a 60-yard TD run in the fourth quarter. He led Clark with 102 yards on nine carries.

Brown had TD runs of 35 and 12 yards in the first quarter as the Chargers (2-5, 1-3 Southwest) seized a 20-0 lead.

Tyson Carter had three of Clark's nine sacks, and the Chargers also had an interception and a fumble recovery while holding the Trailblazers to 178 yards.

Steven Flores threw for 74 yards and rushed for 21 for Durango (1-7, 0-4)

-- Tim Guesman

• Cimarron-Memorial 28, Arbor View 22 -- At Arbor View, the Aggies gave the Spartans (6-1, 4-0 Northwest) all they could handle, but came up short.

Cimarron led 21-3, but Arbor View's Shaun Murray answered with 46-yard scoring run, and James Toller found John Johnson for two touchdown passes as the Aggies cut the deficit to six.

Cimarron recovered an Arbor View onside kick with 4:30 remaining and was able to run out most of the clock until being held on fourth down. The Aggies were left with one play from their own 20, but their desperation pass fell incomplete.

Arbor View (2-5, 0-4) led 3-0 late in the first half while holding Cimarron's powerful rushing attack to 73 yards.

The Spartans rallied, getting a 1-yard TD dive by Joe Zikakis before halftime, then a 6-yard TD by Stephen Nixon (108 yards rushing) in the third quarter and Zach Barbara's 59-yard TD run to start the fourth.

-- Adam Berchin

• Green Valley 47, Basic 26 -- At Green Valley, Frank Satterfield rushed for 269 yards and three touchdowns on 40 carries, scoring twice in the fourth quarter as the Gators pulled away from the Wolves.

Basic tied the game at 20 to open the second half on Greg Henderson's 26-yard reception from Josh Ross, who ran for the two-point conversion.

Green Valley (3-4, 2-1 Southeast) quickly answered as Satterfield sprinted 51 yards to make it 27-20.

Basic (5-2, 1-2) scored on its next play when Justin Burdno (four catches, 104 yards) made an over-the-shoulder grab on a 56-yard TD toss from Ross. The Wolves missed the extra point and didn't score again.

Gators quarterback Dominic McGovern scored on an 18-yard option run in the fourth quarter. Satterfield seemed to get stronger down the stretch, running for touchdowns of 8 and 41 yards to make it a blowout.

Henderson helped Basic rally from a 17-0 deficit, scoring on a 92-yard kickoff return and a 2-yard run on fourth-and-goal from the 2.

Green Valley's Nick Libonati threw for a score and ran for one in the first half. Ross threw for 208 yards and two TDs for the Wolves.

-- Todd Dewey

• Las Vegas 34, Chaparral 14 -- At Las Vegas, the Wildcats (5-3, 3-1 Northeast) used a stingy defense and 105 rushing yards by Robert Hackett to beat the Cowboys (1-7, 1-4).

Chaparral's Quentin McCloud opened the game with an 80-yard touchdown run, but the Cowboys gained only 72 total yards the rest of the game.

The Wildcats responded to McCloud's long rush with three touchdowns in the last 4:09 of the first quarter, highlighted by Marvin Campbell's 22-yard pass to Zerrick Pryor.

McCloud finished with 112 yards on the ground for the Cowboys.

-- Jamie Chagnon

• Coronado 41, Foothill 14 -- At Coronado, Brady McManus threw four touchdown passes to Taylor Knowles and the Cougars (4-4, 2-2 Southeast) routed the Falcons (2-7, 2-3).

McManus, who completed 16 of 29 passes for 252 yards, threw seven of his eight completions to Knowles in the first half, resulting in three touchdowns and a 19-14 lead.

Foothill stayed close at halftime, getting a 3-yard TD plunge by Martell Walker and a 67-yard TD pass from Derek Muaava to Marcus Hurtado.

But seven turnovers killed several drives for the Falcons, who gained 45 offensive yards in the second half.

Kason Henriques and Marcus Garcia added third-quarter TD runs for Coronado, and Knowles finished with 174 receiving yards.

-- Jeff Wollard

• Sierra Vista 28, Bonanza 7 -- At Bonanza, the Bengals couldn't stop Lions junior Akil Sharp and couldn't dent Sierra Vista's tough defensive line.

Sharp scored on runs of 48 and 7 yards in the first quarter, and the Sierra Vista defense held Bonanza to 29 total yards in the first half.

Chris Anglin (9-yard run) and Garland Lathan (5-yard run) had second-half TDs for the Lions (2-5, 2-1 Southwest).

Bonanza (2-5, 0-3) ended the shutout in the waning minutes on Rakim Lowe's 19-yard pass to senior Marcus Green.

-- Jeff Hoskin

• Desert Pines 21, Eldorado 10 -- At Desert Pines, the Jaguars (4-4, 3-2 Northeast) scored 21 second-half points to rally past the Sundevils (1-7, 1-3).

Trailing 10-0 at halftime after gaining only 18 yards and committing two turnovers, Desert Pines came alive in the second half, with Eric Tuiloma and Kwame Banks combining for 154 rushing yards.

Mike Elliott helped set up both Eldorado scores, gaining 79 yards on the ground. He did not play the second half because of an injury.

-- Gabe Whetten

• The Meadows 28, Lincoln County 20 -- At The Meadows, Graham Hilts passed for 110 yards and four touchdowns as the Mustangs (5-2, 2-0 2A Southern League) knocked off the Lynx (5-2, 2-1).

Freshman Austin Brown caught two TD passes, and junior Pat Kenny rushed for 80 yards and had 17 tackles.

• Faith Lutheran 40, Pahrump Valley 7 -- At Pahrump, Max Done passed for 267 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Crusaders (5-3, 1-2 3A Southern League) over the Trojans (0-6-1, 0-2).

Done, who had missed the previous two games with a wrist injury, completed 20 of 25 passes. Five receivers caught TD passes as the Crusaders threw for 370 yards.

• Virgin Valley 29, Boulder City 12 -- At Mesquite, Colton Teerlink rushed for 162 yards and a touchdown to help the Bulldogs (7-1, 3-0 3A Southern League) defeat the Eagles.

Doug Hafen added 98 rushing yards and two TDs, and also passed for 71 yards. Brian Slater rushed for 124 yards for Boulder City (2-5, 0-2).