Bonanza opens season with 21-0 shutout of Valley

Coming into its football matchup with Valley, Bonanza had gone five straight years without a season-opening win. The last time the Bengals won in a shutout victory was 2009.

Both streaks were put to an end Friday night as the Bengals toppled Valley 21-0. The Bonanza defense maintained control throughout, causing four turnovers and sacking Valley quarterback Sean Norwood five times for a loss of 35 yards.

“To say that we’re starting the season 1-0, it’s a big deal,” Bonanza coach Dion Lee said. “It’s a big confidence booster for sure.”

While the final score was lopsided, both teams struggled to get into a rhythm for the first half. This may have been partly due to a local power outage that forced an early start time and an entire quarter without a working scoreboard.

The Bengals’ offense committed five first-half penalties and gave up a goal-line interception just before the second quarter. For their part, the Vikings’ defense nabbed three fumble recoveries and two interceptions on the day.

“If we weren’t going to get the lights back, the game was going to be stopped at 7:45 p.m.,” Lee said. “We lost our game plan. But once we got the lights back, it was back to normal and we could get back to doing what we needed to do.”

Bonanza didn’t score until the final minute of the first half when quarterback Kyle Allison found wide receiver Shamarion Bellegarde for an 84-yard touchdown. With one juke, Bellegarde turned what could have been a first-down reception into a momentum-changing score.

“I ran a slant, the safety flew, and then all of the sudden I was by myself,” Bellegarde said. “I really think it changed everything because after that play, everything just started clicking. At halftime, coach was just telling us to pick up the intensity because the game was not over.”

The Bengals certainly came out with renewed intensity in the second half. They started the third quarter with a seven-play, 71-yard drive that ended with another touchdown catch for Bellegarde. Allison finished the game with 118 yards on 5-for-11 passing.

Bonanza put the game out of reach two minutes into the fourth quarter with a touchdown drive that was set up by an interception at the Vikings’ 28-yard line. Justin Bacon, who led all rushers with 108 yards on 14 carries, capped off the drive with a 24-yard TD run.

Valley had some success on the ground as Bryce Jones ran for 88 yards on 11 carries. But the Vikings were held to just 38 passing yards on 19 attempts.

“I was impressed with the defense,” Lee said. “But at this early point in camp, the defense is always ahead of the offense. The offense is more about timing. We’re going to look forward to next week and improving.”