Chaparral bends, doesn’t break in win over Bonanza

Football is a game of many things. Strategy. Toughness. Inches.

Chaparral’s 26-21 home win over Bonanza on Friday night was a game of something else: runs.

After the Cowboys scored the first 13 points, the Bengals answered with 21 unanswered, then the home squad responded with another 13 straight to seal a comeback victory in their season opener.

“That’s what happens when you practice lackadaisical, if you will,” Chaparral assistant coach Dean Fountain said. “They caught (us) in the second quarter. We talk about coming out and punching people in the mouth, and we did that in the first quarter.

“They came back and they sucked it up.”

Trailing 21-16 early in the fourth quarter, Chaparral (1-0) retook the lead for good when quarterback Iopu Tauli’ili scored from 2 yards out then converted the two-point conversion with his legs. A safety with 4:30 to play brought the score to its final margin.

Tauli’ili ran for a game-high 57 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. He also threw for 93 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, completing 7 of 12 passes.

The game-winning score was made possible by consecutive offsides penalties before a 45-yard field goal attempt on fourth and 12. The pair of dead-ball penalties led to a conversion on fourth and 2 before the score.

“People who want to be super heroes got to know how to play their role,” Bonanza coach Dion Lee said of the sequence. “If you’re going to be The Avengers, you got to know what your powers are, and not go out there on your own and try to take on whoever.”

Bonanza senior quarterback Kyle Allison’s second rushing touchdown of the night, from 3 yards out, put the guests in front 21-13 with 9:21 left in the third. Allison’s 2-yard score with 17 seconds left in the first half put Bonanza up 14-13 going to the locker room.

The Bengals (1-2) were limited to just 37 yards of offense the rest of the way.

“I’d say they (defense) pulled it together,” Fountain said. “Wow. I’m speechless. Thirty-seven yards? That’s amazing.”