Wildcats continue title run

Marvin Campbell just wouldn't be denied on Friday night.

The senior quarterback scored on a 5-yard run on fourth-and-2 with 4:06 to play to give Las Vegas the lead, and the Wildcats held on for a 28-25 road win over Del Sol for the Sunrise Region championship.

"Marvin always makes something happen," Las Vegas coach Chris Faircloth said. "He's not the fastest kid, doesn't have the strongest arm, but he always comes through."

Campbell, whose fumble set up Del Sol's go-ahead TD earlier in the fourth quarter, plowed straight ahead, picking up not only the needed first down but the go-ahead score.

"That was one of those plays where you're down there in the clutch in the red zone, and Coach called my number," Campbell said. "The whole team did it, and it's just a great feeling to get it done like that."

It was the fifth consecutive Sunrise title for the Wildcats (9-4), who play at McQueen in the state semifinals at 1 p.m. next Saturday.

Campbell had fumbled at the end of a 12-yard run, giving the Dragons the ball with about nine minutes to play. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Matt Burge hit Evan Weinstock with a 56-yard touchdown pass to put Del Sol up 25-21 with 8:50 to play.

It was Del Sol's first lead since the second quarter.

Campbell came back on the field and engineered a 52-yard scoring drive, capped by his second TD run of the night.

"Our guys stayed with me," Campbell said. "My coaches and teammates told me, 'You're going to have to carry it for us.' They stood behind me, and I was able to get it done in the end."

Las Vegas got little done early in the game. Del Sol (10-2) went on two long scoring drives in the first half, taking a 12-0 lead on a 5-yard TD pass from Burge to Tim Lawson with 6:48 to go in the second quarter. The Dragons had outgained Las Vegas 175-19 at that point.

"It was a pretty effortless 12-0, too," Faircloth said.

Then the Wildcats got a big play to spark the comeback. Emery Schexnayder returned the ensuing kick 59 yards to the Del Sol 25, and Campbell scored five plays later as the Wildcats cut the lead to 12-7.

"We needed to make something happen on offense," Faircloth said. "That kickoff return was huge."

After forcing a three-and-out, Las Vegas drove 70 yards, capped by a 12-yard TD pass from Campbell to a wide-open Michael Alexander, and Trevor Lowe's extra point made the score 14-12 with 42.7 seconds left in the half.

Del Sol quickly drove to the Las Vegas 9, but consecutive passes went off the fingertips of a diving Lawson in the end zone, and Vincent Griffith's 28-yard field-goal attempt on the last play of the half barely got off the ground.

It was just one of several problems Del Sol had in the kicking game. The Dragons also missed an extra point, and short kickoffs helped give the Wildcats consistently good field position.

"We were giving them good field position all night, and you can't give a good team field position," Del Sol coach Preston Goroff said. "It'll bite you in the butt."

Del Sol outgained Las Vegas 387-252, but the Dragons couldn't take advantage.

"It was just a matter of us not taking advantage of the opportunities we had," Goroff said. "We just weren't playing as crisp as we'd like to."

Contact Prep Sports Editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or (702) 380-4587.