Spartans upend Aggies

Arbor View coach Dan Barnson told his players they needed to score on special teams Friday night to beat Cimarron-Memorial.

The Aggies didn't, the Spartans did and that score turned out to be the difference in Cimarron's 26-19 road victory.

The unranked Spartans (3-2) spoiled homecoming for Arbor View and also dealt the fifth-ranked Aggies (4-1) their first loss of the season.

After DeMarlo Virgil scored on a 33-yard touchdown run to give Arbor View a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter, Cimarron-Memorial's James Poole returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a score to knot things 7-7.

"That was such a huge touchdown," Barnson said. "That was a tough thing to recover from."

Another turning point took place later in the second quarter when the Aggies forced the Spartans to punt from midfield. Officials ruled the ball hit Arbor View's Gabe Toney in the foot and Cimarron-Memorial recovered at the 17.

Three plays later, Stephen Nixon took it in from 2 yards out to give the Spartans a 13-7 lead.

"All I saw was rubber flying off from the turf," Barnson said, indicating he didn't think the ball hit his player. "And that ends up being the difference (in the game). That's tough."

Spartans coach Rod Vollan said "there was no question it was touched by one of their guys."

Cimarron-Memorial scored on its first two possessions of the second half -- on a 36-yard TD run by Zach Barbara (23 carries, 165 yards) and 1-yard quarterback sneak by Cody Clark -- to take a 26-7 lead.

But Arbor View, which out-gained the Spartans 373 yards to 260, answered with two TDs to pull within 26-19 midway through the fourth quarter.

Taylor Wooten (21 carries, 169 yards) scored on a 9-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter and then sprinted 52 yards for a score on the Aggies' next possession.

Cimarron, which rushed 56 times and passed the ball only once, nearly ran out the clock but turned the ball over on downs with 39 seconds left.

The Aggies took over at their 21 and marched to the Spartans 32 after Austin Anderson hit Jordan Miller in stride over the middle for a 50-yard pass play.

That was as far as Arbor View would get, though, as Anderson's final three pass attempts fell incomplete, the last one as time expired.

"We're still a new program, we're still building," Barnson said. "We haven't been in a lot of big games, but the kids showed a lot of pride coming back at the end. We've got to build on this."

• Green Valley 21, Coronado 15 -- At Coronado, the Gators overcame seven turnovers, including five in the first quarter, to beat the Cougars.

Coronado (2-3) took advantage of Green Valley's fumble on the opening kickoff and raced to an 8-0 lead when Kenny Lawrence scored on a 15-yard touchdown run less than two minutes into the game.

On the next drive, Lawrence intercepted Nick Libonati's first pass of the game, but Coronado failed to capitalize.

Lawrence added his second interception late in the first quarter, but the Cougars also failed to score off that turnover as tailback Marcus Garcia fumbled at the Gators 18.

Libonati rebounded from his early miscues and scored on a 5-yard run midway through the second quarter. He tied the game 8-8 when he busted through the line on the 2-point conversion.

Green Valley's Nolan Kohorst hit a 51-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, giving the Gators (3-2) an 11-8 lead.

Quincy Bagsby extended Green Valley's lead to 10, scampering 76 yards on the Gators' first play from scrimmage in the second half.

Coronado cut the lead to 18-15 on Garcia's 1-yard TD run late in the third quarter.

Kohorst booted a 53-yard field goal with 1:27 to go. Then Green Valley withstood a Cougars drive, batting away Cooper's final pass attempt inside the 5-yard line as time expired.

-- Stu Mandelbaum

• Basic 21, Silverado 11 -- At Basic, Anthany Lessier returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter and the Wolves (4-1, 2-0) shut down the No. 8 Skyhawks for most of the game to remain in first place in the Southeast League.

Silverado (2-2, 0-2) finished with just 205 yards of offense -- 72 of which came on a late scoring drive after the Wolves had taken a 21-3 lead.

Charles Phillips led Basic with 90 yards rushing, and quarterback Robby Faiman added 43 on the ground.

The Skyhawks took their only lead, 3-0, on Brandon Romero's 26-yard field goal midway through the second quarter. On Basic's next possession, Phillips broke three tackles on the way to a 76-yard run -- he was tackled from behind at the 1 by Silverado's Keenan Graham. One play later, Anthony Ireland plowed across the goal line to put Basic on top 7-3.

Lessier's pick gave the Wolves a 14-3 cushion. Faiman added a 2-yard scoring run for a 21-3 advantage.

Silverado got within 21-11 as Kyle Simmons hit Trenton Tipton for a 26-yard touchdown with 1:31 remaining, before the Wolves recovered the onside kick.

-- David Schoen

• Las Vegas 40, Chaparral 15 -- At Chaparral, Reggie Bullock scored three first-half touchdowns to lead the Wildcats past the Cowboys.

Las Vegas (4-1, 2-0 Northeast) dominated early, with Bullock (122 yards on eight carries) scoring on a 61-yard run and a 5-yard pass from Emir Lopez in the first quarter.

The Wildcats extended their lead to 26-0 in the second quarter on a 1-yard plunge by Bullock and 4-yard pass from Lopez to Riyaadh Nevins.

Though Chaparral (2-3, 1-1) struggled to move the ball on the ground, Cowboys quarterback Bre Onta Griffin completed 6 of 13 passes for 144 yards, making the score 26-7 with an 8-yard pass to Jermal Turner late in the first half.

But Reshon Edwards (11 carries for 89 yards) scored on a 55-yard run early in the third quarter, and Reynaldo Betiong returned an interception for an 8-yard TD to give the Wildcats a 40-7 lead.

-- Jeff Wollard

• Palo Verde 56, Centennial 35 -- At Centennial, Chaz Thomas logged 247 of the Panthers' 386 rushing yards as top-ranked Palo Verde rolled to its 10th straight Northwest League victory.

The Panthers (5-0, 2-0) scored on five of their first six possessions to grab a 35-7 lead. None of the five TD drives took more than 95 seconds.

Thomas had touchdown runs of 80 and 16 yards, and Sidney Hodge and Tyrone Blake each scored twice. Quarterback Kelly Zurowski threw a pair of touchdown passes: 50 yards to Grant Bernhardy and 31 yards to Torin Harris.

Chris Henderson threw for 203 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score for Centennial (2-3, 0-2 Northwest).

Palo Verde, which ran only 38 plays to the Bulldogs' 69, outgained Centennial, 482-374.

The Bulldogs got a scare late in the first quarter when senior lineman Gabe Easler was injured and lay motionless on the field for nearly 15 minutes. Easler was taken off the field and was rushed to a nearby hospital. According to school officials, Easler had feeling in his arms and legs and was scheduled to be released this morning.

-- Sam Leeper

• Rancho 44, Canyon Springs 31 -- At Canyon Springs, James Cammack completed 23 of 36 passes for 474 yards and six touchdowns as the Rams (2-3, 1-0 Northeast) racked up 654 yards of offense and defeated the Pioneers (0-4, 0-2).

Dijon Holman hooked up with Cammack seven times for 210 yards and had two touchdowns, including one on a 65-yard hook-and-ladder play with 30 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

Rancho's Harvey Yarbrough had three touchdowns catches, and Cedric Williams had two.

Canyon Springs' Deshaun Stewart had three catches for 153 yards and two touchdowns.

-- Ryan Austin

• Cheyenne 59, Mojave 0 -- At Mojave, the Desert Shields (4-1, 1-1 Northwest) scored touchdowns on all seven of their offensive possessions and tacked on two defensive scores in a rout over the Rattlers (0-4, 0-2).

Donnel Thompson rushed for two TDs, Chyre Anderson stripped the ball and returned it 34 yards for a score and Marcus Sullivan's 16-yard rushing touchdown gave Cheyenne a 28-0 lead after the first quarter.

Sullivan added a 70-yard TD run early in the second, followed by a 66-yard interception return for a score by Khyriece Campbell.

-- Adam Berchin

• Legacy 41, Shadow Ridge 0 -- At Legacy, junior Deshae Edwards rushed for 226 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries to lead the Longhorns (5-0, 2-0 Northwest) to a rout over the Mustangs (1-4, 0-2).

Edwards had an 87-yard run early in the first quarter to set up junior quarterback Zach Monticelli's 1-yard touchdown plunge.

Edwards put the Longhorns ahead 13-0 at the half with a 7-yard touchdown scamper. He added a 71-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Legacy scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half, including a 42-yard run by Darren Barnes.

-- Brennan Karle

• Desert Pines 33, Valley 20 -- At Valley, the Jaguars' defense and special teams accounted for three touchdowns as Desert Pines (1-4, 1-1 Northeast) slipped past the Vikings (2-3, 0-2).

Safety Eric Tuiloma sealed the victory with a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown in the final minute.

Jaguars linebacker Julian Yearwood recovered a fumble in the end zone and quarterback Dalton Leilua added a successful 2-point conversion run to send the game to halftime tied at 14.

After Kerwynn Williams' second rushing touchdown gave Valley a 20-14 lead in the third quarter, Schaquawn Williams returned a punt 38 yards for the first of three consecutive Desert Pines touchdowns.

Valley's Williams finished with 199 yards rushing and 105 yards passing. He also had a 78-yard TD run in the first quarter.

-- Sean Jaramillo

• Eldorado 24, Foothill 17 -- At Eldorado, the Sundevils (3-2) scored 21 consecutive points in the second half and made two key interceptions to beat the Falcons (2-3).

The first interception came with 7:30 left in the fourth quarter and Foothill deep in Eldorado territory. Sundevils defensive lineman Chris Eliason batted quarterback Aaron Dupin's pass into the air and Deondre Williams made a diving catch to set up the Sundevils' go-ahead score, a 23-yard TD run by DeAndre Smith.

Eldorado cornerback Jordan Harrison denied the Falcons an opportunity to tie the game by picking off a pass in the corner of the end zone with 1:32 left.

-- Brian Danise

• Bonanza 21, Sierra Vista 0 -- At Sierra Vista, Antonio Beals rushed for 124 yards and two scores on 20 carries as the Bengals blanked the Mountain Lions.

Beals, who rushed for 111 yards in the first half, scored on a 3-yard run on the first play of the second quarter to make it 14-0. He added another 3-yard touchdown run with 5:36 to play in the third quarter.

Aaron Simon opened the game with a 90-yard kickoff return for Bonanza (3-2, 2-0 Southwest).

The Bengals' defense limited Sierra Vista (2-3, 1-1) to 124 yards of offense and forced three turnovers.

Dakota Barrix and Alex Seguin each had interceptions for Bonanza, and Anthony Roberts recovered a fumble.

-- Tim Guesman

• Clark 25, Durango 15 -- At Durango, the Chargers (1-4, 1-1 Southwest) rushed for 325 yards to control the Trailblazers (0-5, 0-2 Southwest).

Aaron Arlt ran for 188 yards, including touchdowns of 53 and 3 yards that gave Clark a 14-0 lead.

With the Chargers leading 20-15 in the fourth quarter, Anthony Lotta sealed the win with a 2-yard TD on a quarterback sneak.

-- Dana Lane

• Western 34, Pahrump Valley 20 -- At Pahrump Valley, Devin Wiedemann passed for two touchdowns and ran for two scores to lead the Warriors past the Trojans.