Superior depth fuels Aggies

Arbor View football coach Dan Barnson knew he had some banged-up players Friday, but he never doubted that depth would lead his squad to a victory.

Barnson was right, as his third-ranked Aggies manhandled No. 6 Canyon Springs early en route to a 44-14 home victory.

Herman Gray, who rushed 15 times for 126 yards to lead Arbor View, scored twice in the first six minutes to give his team a 14-0 lead and all the momentum it would need.

“I thought this is what would happen tonight,” Barnson said. “We have to do that. We lost some key kids (to injuries) last week, but I’m very proud of some other kids for stepping up. That’s what you want to happen.”

The Pioneers made it easy for Arbor View in the first quarter, as a blocked punt, a fumble and a short punt led to the Aggies’ first three touchdowns.

Barnson said field position was a key throughout the first half.

“We take a lot of pride in coming through when we get that short field,” he said. “We work a lot on that, and I’m proud of the way our special teams played tonight.”

Noah Noce scored on a 12-yard pass from Bryce Poster late in the first quarter, and he added a score with a 12-yard run early in the second to give the Aggies a 27-0 lead.

The Pioneers finally got on the board when Bradley Alexander connected with Ezequiel Lopez for a 12-yard TD pass midway through the second quarter, but Arbor View answered with a 16-yard TD sprint by Denajiou McZeal and a 42-yard field goal by Carter Andade to make it 37-17 at halftime.

In the second half, the Aggies were held to a 7-yard third-quarter TD run by Maurice Harvey, but they held the Canyon Springs offense back until a fumble helped the Pioneers score on a 22-yard run up the middle by D.J. Board midway through the fourth.

“We kept the ball away from them,” Barnson said. “We controlled the ball and played a short field for most of the game. We never let them get going, and that was the key.”

Alexander completed 12 of 24 passes for 134 yards and a TD to lead the Pioneers.

■ Green Valley 53, Shadow Ridge 21 – At Green Valley, Christian Lopez threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score as the No. 9 Gators cruised past the Mustangs.

Lopez tossed touchdowns passes of 35, 8 and 52 yards and finished with 197 passing yards, all in the first half. He also scored on a 30-yard run for Green Valley (2-1) and finished with 93 rushing yards.

De-Zhon Rogers opened the game with a 74-yard kickoff return for a TD for Shadow Ridge (0-2). Dexter Kie also had a 66-yard kickoff return for a score for the Mustangs in the first quarter which tied the game at 14-14, but Green Valley scored the next 40 points quell the threat.

Albert Lake had a 90-yard kickoff return for a score in the first quarter and had a 21-yard touchdown run. He led the Gators with 134 rushing yards on 12 carries.

— Tim Guesman

■ Chaparral 45, Sunrise Mountain 0 — At Sunrise Mountain, Richard Hernandez scored three first-quarter touchdowns to lead Chaparral.

Hernandez finished with 61 yards on eight carries, and sophomore Jacob Ford added 50 yards on eight rushes.

Cowboys quarterback Jerome Williamson completed 8 of 11 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns to help put Chaparral (1-2, 1-0 Division I-A Sunrise) up 45-0 at halftime. He sat out the second half.

Sunrise Mountain (0-3, 0-1) was led by Ja’terrius Parks, who carried the ball nine times for 31 yards.

— Jesse Granger

■ Cheyenne 12, Spring Valley 10 — At Cheyenne, running back David Walker rushed for 74 yards and a touchdown to lead Cheyenne.

Both offenses started slowly until quarterback Christian Tasi connected with wide receiver Anthony Vasquez on a 28-yard completion which placed Spring Valley (1-2, 0-1 Division I-A Sunset) deep in Desert Shield territory. Two plays later, Tasi scored on a 1-yard run. Michael Bianco’s 2-point conversion gave the Grizzlies an 8-0 lead. Bianco led the Grizzlies with 54 rushing yards

Cheyenne (1-2, 1-0) took advantage of an Ashton Lawson interception to score on a 23-yard touchdown pass from Matthew LaBonte to Zavieh Harrell to cut the lead to 8-6. After recovering a Grizzly fumble, Cheyenne went on a nine-play, 44-yard drive and scored just before halftime on a 3-yard run by Walker to take a 12-8 lead.

— Ron Harris

■ Clark 25, Faith Lutheran 13 — At Clark, the Chargers won their home opener by forcing five Crusader turnovers, including on each of Faith Lutheran’s first three possessions of the second half.

Faith Lutheran (1-2, 0-1 Division I-A Sunset) got on the board first when Greg Benson hit Mark Rubalcaba on a 54-yard touchdown pass and Ryan Callan kicked the PAT. Clark (2-1, 1-0) responded with a 38-yard run by TyRek Wells to start an 81-yard touchdown drive. A failed extra point made it 7-6.

Clark was led by 111 yards passing from Nick Kinnard, 80 yards receiving by Stuart and 114 yards rushing

by Morris.

Faith Lutheran got 141 yards passing by Benson, 65 yards rushing by Marshall — all in the second half — and 86 yards receiving by Rubalcaba.

— Neil Grepke

■ Sierra Vista 64, Western 0 — At Western, Sierra Vista’s defense forced seven turnovers, including four interceptions returned for touchdowns, to keep the Mountain Lions unbeaten.

Sierra Vista’s defense started the pressure early, forcing a fumble on Western’s second play of the game and recovering it at the Western 29-yard line. Two plays later, Andrew Peterson opened the scoring for Sierra Vista with a 14-yard touchdown run.

Peterson finished with four carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns, adding two more touchdowns on returns after intercepting Western quarterback Wyatt Rozea twice in the first half. Maliek Broady added two touchdowns on runs of 68 and 43 yards on back-to-back possessions for Sierra Vista (3-0, 1-0 Division I-A Sunset).

— Jordan Aguilar

■ Mojave 50, Pahrump Valley 6 — At Mojave, Ty Flanagan ran for 252 yards on just nine carries, scoring on runs of 35, 53 and 99 yards to lead the Rattlers over the Trojans.

Zack Arave and Davion Fletcher each rushed for a touchdown, and Flanagan added his first two scores to give the Rattlers a 30-0 lead after one quarter. Flanagan halted a Trojans drive early in the second quarter with an interception at the 1-yard line and two plays later took the handoff, broke a tackle and flew down the sideline for a 99-yard touchdown.

Lamaja Cunningham took over at quarterback for the Rattlers (3-0, 1-0 Division I-A Sunset) in the second half and contributed a 60-yard rushing score and a 20-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Parker.

Jeremiah England finished with seven receptions for 109 yards for the Trojans (1-2, 0-1).

— Adam Berchin

■ Silverado 45, Desert Oasis 14 — At Desert Oasis, the Skyhawks used a dominant first-half performance to rush past the Diamondbacks and pick up their first victory.

Deyon McKinney scored three times in the first two quarters, with two short runs and a highlight-reel 73-yard reception on a screen pass just before halftime. The senior finished with 161 yards rushing and 130 yards receiving.

Junior quarterback Qwade Huff scored both Desert Oasis touchdowns on runs of 5 and 14 yards and accounted for 198 of the Diamondbacks’ 269 total yards of offense.Tyshon McClintock chipped in with 61 yards on the ground for Desert Oasis (0-3).

— Mike James

■ Foothill 56, Valley 6 — At Foothill, Foothill used a big first half to take control of the game and cruised to the home victory over Valley.

Falcons quarterback Devon Mueller completed 9 of his 10 passes — three for touchdowns — and racked up 164 yards. Aeden Bartolowitz caught three passes for 85 yards and scored twice. Eric Fisher added a 57-yard touchdown catch.

A 42-yard run from Justice Jackson just over a minute in started the scoring for Foothill (1-2), and Mueller found Bartolowitz under three minutes later for a 40-yard score. Merritt also got in the end zone with a 17-yard run with just over a minute left in the opening quarter.

For Valley (0-3), Tyler Ford caught a quick pass near midfield, and his lateral to Jaesion Flores went for 47 yards and the only Vikings score.

— Mike Bailey

■ Durango 33, Bonanza 25 — At Bonanza, Luis Paulino and Leontre Austin each scored two touchdowns as the Trailblazers snapped an 11-game losing streak.

Durango quarterback Jonathan Schofield threw for 220 yards and two touchdowns in the first half — 92 yards to Paulino and 11 yards to Noah Williams. Troy Smidt hit Paulino on a TD strike from 24 yards.

Bonanza’s DeShawn Williams took the second-half kickoff and raced 82 yards for a score, cutting the Trailblazer lead to 26-19. Austin answered 14 seconds later with an 86-yard kickoff return, and Durango led 33-19.

Paulino grabbed six passes for 147 yards for Durango (1-1), which had just 27 yards total offense after halftime. Austin led the Durango ground game with 73 yards on 19 carries and scored on a 1-yard run in the second period.

— Sam Leeper

■ Boulder City 32, Rancho 13 — At Rancho, senior Phillip Carmell passed for two touchdowns, ran for another and intercepted a pass for Boulder City.

The Eagles (2-1) orchestrated two scoring drives and dominated the first quarter behind the arm of Carmell, who threw the game’s first score of 37 yards to Austin Wishard and hit Brooks Roe with a bullet to the 1-yard line. Carmell finished the drive with a 1-yard wiggle into the end zone.

Junior Robert Howard finished with 29 carries for 137-yards for Rancho (0-3), which only completed three passes during the game.

— Adam Helmsing

■ Spring Mountain 16, Beatty 0 — At Beatty, Norman Crawford ran for a 60-yard touchdown during the second quarter Friday to lead Spring Mountain.

Jarron Belvin added a 9-yard run during the fourth quarter for the Golden Eagles (2-1, 1-0 Division IV Southern).

■ Agassi Prep 56, Lutheran (Calif.) 20 — At Chula Vista, Calif., Kobe Williams scored five touchdowns to lead the Stars (1-1) past Lutheran.

Williams returned the opening kickoff 85 yards for a score and tacked on three touchdown runs and an interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter as the Stars built a 50-14 halftime lead.