4A ROUNDUP: Big play clinches Falcons’ win
The Falcons took their time in delivering that play, but Connor Afoa finally broke a 70-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter to lead Foothill to 14-6 home victory over Bonanza.
“We knew if we got a seam, Connor was going to bust one,” Redmond said. “We didn’t know when, but we knew he would.”
The Falcons were fortunate to be clinging to a 7-6 lead at the time. The Bengals had just lost the ball at the Foothill 30 on an untimely fumble that ruined an 11-play, 53-yard drive.
Afoa took a hand-off from Foothill quarterback Parker Riggin on the next play, slashing through a hole in the line and up the middle to give the Falcons a 14-6 lead.
“We worked on that set in practice,” said Afoa, who finished with 157 yards on 19 carries. “And it worked every single time. I got some good blocks, and I knew (the hole) was going to be there.”
The Falcons led throughout, taking a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard Afoa plunge that resulted from the first of three fumbles lost by Bonanza.
But the Bengals came out strong to open the second half, scoring on a 25-yard pass from Sterling Sprau to Desean Martin to make it 7-6 with 4:55 left in the third quarter.
When Foothill fumbled the ball away to open the fourth, Bonanza began a downfield march that would become the last of three drives to be squelched inside the Falcons 30-yard line. Afoa scored on the next play.
“Our defense played really well tonight,” said Redmond, whose offense took only four snaps in the fourth quarter. “They kept battling and they kept us in the game.”
Riggin completed 7 of 11 passes for 105 yards to help Foothill.
Sprau led Bonanza, rushing 15 times for 61 yards and completing 10 of 17 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown.
Though Redmond said his team was capable of a better effort, he was happy to leave the field with a win.
“It’s definitely better than losing,” he said. “We made a lot of mistakes, but it’s always good when you can go off with a win.”
Green Valley 10, Centennial 7 — At Centennial, Nolan Kohorst drilled a 19-yard field goal with 5:04 to play, and the Gators (1-0) held on to top the Bulldogs (0-1).
Kohorst lined up for a 46-yard field goal only to fake the kick and complete a 19-yard pass to set up the game-winning score four plays later.
Centennial threatened to score on its ensuing and final possession, when Gabriel Douglas forced a fumble on a sack and recovered the ball for Green Valley.
Both teams opened the season with turnovers on each of their first possessions and struggled to a scoreless first half.
Green Valley scored on the fourth play of the second half on a 51-yard TD scamper by Treveece Jackson. Centennial answered with a short TD plunge by Cody Clark set up by an 83-yard run by Javahn Sanders, who finished with nine carries for 112 yards.
Green Valley’s Jordan Corbett completed 15 of 23 passes for 160 yards, and Jackson had 80 yards on 15 carries.
Dionte Maxwell added a 55-yard touchdown reception from Devin Wiedemann in the second quarter to give Legacy (1-0) a 20-9 lead at halftime.
Liberty (0-1) scored its only touchdown on a quarterback keeper by Samuel Tai after recovering a blocked punt on the 1-yard line.
Legacy’s Richard Johnson intercepted a Tai pass on the last play of the game and returned it 95 yards for the final score.
Del Sol 35, Valley 12 — At Valley, Dezerick Reed rushed for 206 yards and a pair of touchdowns to power the Dragons past the Vikings.
With the Dragons holding a 13-12 lead in the second quarter, Reed burst up the middle for a 44-yard score to cap a seven-play, 70-yard drive that put Del Sol in control.
Reed also scored on a 1-yard run four plays into the game that was set up by his 37-yard run on Del Sol’s first offensive play.
Chris Marshall had 18 carries for 71 yards and a score for the Dragons, who outrushed Valley 331-67, despite the fact that both Reed and Marshall missed nearly all of the third quarter with leg cramps.
Quarterback Troy Miller had a 1-yard touchdown run and threw a 16-yard TD pass to Daniel Doph for Del Sol.
Garic Wharton had an 80-yard kickoff return for the Vikings in the first quarter. Wallace Dean tossed a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Deas for Valley to cut the Dragon lead to 13-12 on the first play of the second quarter. But the Vikings could not score again, as a pair of second half drives stalled inside the Dragon 10 yard line.
Virgil capped a 10-play, 59-yard opening drive with a 15-yard sweep left for a touchdown.
Virgil scored on runs of 15 yards, 30 yards, 1 yard and 3 yards. Arbor View’s Taylor Wooten supplied 113 yards on seven carries with two touchdowns.
The Aggies established the tempo early with a dominant ground game and led 21-0 after the first quarter and 42-0 at the half after Demon Scurry scored on a 49-yard scamper with 10 seconds left in the second quarter.
Arbor View’s Mike Plantin scored on a 19-yard run early in the fourth quarter to finish the scoring.
Eldorado’s Cesar Urrutia rushed for 47 yards on 12 carries.
The 55 points by Arbor View was the most scored in school history and the shutout was a first for the Aggies’ defense.
Durango led only 7-0 after the opening period but took advantage of three Rancho turnovers in the second quarter on its way to 30 points.
In the second period, Mora had a pair of 1-yard scoring runs, Michael Mehling added a 10-yard score, and Riley Smith hit Michael Neighbors for a 30-yard TD.
By halftime, the Trailblazers (1-0) had outgained the Rams (0-1), 225-112.
The Trailblazers got points from their defense in the third period, as
Eric Wathogoma picked off a William Goose-Garrdet pass and raced 54 yards for a score.
Rancho, which gained just 176 total yards, got two late scores from Harvey Yarbrough — a 40-yard reception and a 41-yard interception return.
Durango rushed for 301 yards, with Mora and Mehling combining for 275.
Shaquille Powell rushed for four touchdowns and Xavier Grimble caught five passes for 88 yards and one TD for Gorman.
Mark Philippi had an interception and Matthew Lemieux returned a fumble recovery for a score to lead the Gorman defense.
Clark 62, Sunrise Mountain 0 — At Clark, the Chargers rushed for 423 yards in a rout of the first-year Miners.
Clark senior Andre Clay, who finished with a game-high 143 yards on 10 carries, scored on a 67-yard run with 4:59 left in the first quarter.
Clark (1-0) will be the only Class 4A opponent the Miners face this season.
The game began to get out of hand in the second quarter when running back Chris Jackson scored on a 1-yard scamper for a 20-0 lead with 10:43 left in the half.
Eleven seconds later, linebacker Steven Haut returned a fumble 9 yards for a score, putting the Chargers up 27-0.
Before halftime, Clay added a 49-yard TD run.
Victor had a 47-yard TD run in the first quarter, and caught TD passes of 36 and 17 yards from Hasaan Henderson.
Henderson also hit Barry Williams with TD passes of 37 and 11 yards.
Dobbins had scoring runs of 34 and 55 yards and completed 12 of 19 passes for 146 yards.
Basic hounded Boulder City quarterback Ross LaMarca, allowing just 38 passing yards and holding LaMarca to minus-41 rushing yards.
Pine View (Utah) 41, Sierra Vista 21 — At St. George, Utah, Pine View built a 41-0 halftime lead and held off the visiting Mountain Lions.
Jordan Foster scored on runs of 5 and 2 yards for Sierra Vista, which had minus-13 rushing yards in the first quarter and only 5 yards on the ground at the half. The Mountain Lions ran for 139 yards in the second half.
Sierra Vista’s Dontrell Hall caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kimury Miles in the fourth quarter.
