Sierra Vista ground game too much for Spring Valley

The football battles between Sierra Vista and Spring Valley are personal. They’re not fighting for supremacy of the area or defending an age-old trophy.

They’re fighting for the initials the two schools share.

Sierra Vista ran the ball up and down the field Thursday night to the tune of 224 yards, as the host Mountain Lions beat up the Grizzlies for a 42-12 victory in the rivalry they call “The Real SV.”

“That was the whole game plan, to come in and run the ball,” Sierra Vista coach John Foss said. “Come in and play a physical game.”

The Mountain Lions (5-0, 2-0 Southwest League) came out and pounded the ball on their first series. Sierra Vista rushed nine times for 69 yards on the drive, capped by Lopaka Kolone’s 12-yard touchdown run with 6:38 left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Sierra Vista quarterback Oscar Aliaga completed his first pass of the night, a 66-yard bomb to Jaxson Zibert that put the Mountain Lions up 14-0. Aliaga only threw six passes, but his two completions both went for touchdowns. Zibert caught both for 78 yards.

“We predominately run but we have to open on the pass, that’s how we drive the ball,” Zibert said.

Spring Valley (1-3, 0-1) would not get on the board until the fourth quarter, too late for a comeback. Quarterback K.C. Moore connected with Dave Higuera for a 2-yard TD pass, it cut the Sierra Vista lead to 35-6 with 8:26 to play.

Moore would throw another touchdown pass five minutes later, finding a wide open Mason DeCunzo for 80 yards. Moore completed 14 of 34 passes for 198 yards. But he also threw an interception in the first half that helped the Mountain Lions take control. Chevy Eliu picked off a pass and returned it 20 yards for a touchdown and a 21-0 Sierra Vista lead. Eliu’s score came just 18 seconds after Zibert’s first TD catch.

The Mountain Lions held Spring Valley to just 24 yards on the ground. Sierra Vista had three rushers — Kolone, Bryan LaGrange and Isaiah Zavala — rush for more than 50 yards. Zavala led the team with 67 yards on 12 carries

Another Mountain Lion who scored a rushing touchdown was 6-foot-2-inch, 340-pound lineman Keki Faatigilia. He hadn’t carried the ball all year, but Sierra Vista made sure to give him a chance, and he had three carries for 18 yards, including a 3-yard TD run with 5:25 to play. Faatigilia was a member of the Spring Valley team that lost 14-7 in this rivalry game last season.

“It felt blessed because I used to go there so it meant a lot to me,” Faatigilia said. “I knew it was coming. We knew it was coming. It was a team effort.

“We’re ‘The Real SV.’”

Justin Emerson can be reached at jemerson@reviewjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @J15Emerson