Coronado overcomes mistakes to beat Clark

Coronado did not open the football season Friday with a performance that could be classified as a work of art.

The Cougars’ outing was tinged with yellow — as in 27 penalty flags — but they still managed to shut down visiting Clark in the second half and rally to a 23-14 victory.

The Cougars overcame their penalty problems to take the lead for good early in the third quarter.

Marcus Garcia recovered a Clark fumble at the Chargers 35-yard line on the third play of the second half, and he scored five plays later on a 2-yard run to make it 20-14.

The teams combined for 41 penalties. Coronado coach John Mannion said he wasn’t sure if his team’s miscues could be blamed on a simple case of first-game nerves.

“I will write it off to that right now,” Mannion said. “But one way or the other that has to change. You can’t continue to win with that kind of attention span.”

The Cougars limited the Chargers to 14 yards of offense in the second half.

“At halftime we got on the kids about executing their responsibilities,” Mannion said. “It came down to executing our game plan. They got away from that in the second quarter. They stepped up (after halftime), and it was about execution.”

The momentum started to change at the end of the first half. Leading 14-13, Clark drove to the Coronado 18, and Anthony Lotta lobbed a pass toward Devohn Marks in the left corner of the end zone. But Cougars defensive back Cory Argubright intercepted and returned the ball to the 41 to end the threat.

Clark’s next two possessions in the third quarter ended in turnovers.

Dane Cooper led the Coronado offense, passing for 138 yards and a touchdown, and he kicked a 26-yard field goal.

Tight end Blake Riley had five catches for 82 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown catch to give Coronado a 7-0 lead in the second quarter.

Garcia led the Cougars on the ground with 79 yards on 11 carries.

Marks sparked Clark with a 90-yard kickoff return for a score, and Andre Clay added a 17-yard burst to the end zone that put the Chargers ahead 14-7 with 2:52 left in the first half. Clark had 143 rushing yards in the first half before Coronado clamped down after halftime.

Arbor View 15, Eldorado 7 — At Arbor View, Ryan Hill and Gabe Toney each had a short touchdown run and combined for 226 of the Aggies’ 348 yards rushing, leading Arbor View past the Sundevils.

The Aggies limited Eldorado to 144 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers.

The Sundevils’ lone score came on JaQuorrey Williams’ 60-yard pass to Charles White in the first quarter.

DeMarlo Virgil added 107 yards rushing for Arbor View, which took a 15-7 lead on Toney’s 5-yard TD run in the second quarter.

Eldorado took possession after Arbor View’s Patrick Cape missed a 29-yard field-goal attempt with just about two minutes left. But

Williams fumbled on the next play, and the Aggies recovered to seal the victory.

Centennial 43, Durango 14 — At Centennial, the Bulldogs held Durango scoreless in the first half and cruised to a lopsided victory.
Centennial quarterback Chris Henderson threw two touchdowns to wide receiver Matt Holley in the first quarter. Running back Brandan Wright added a 2-point conversion.

Durango’s Julio Mora returned a kickoff 70 yards with 56 seconds in the first quarter, but the Trailblazers couldn’t capitalize on a fourth-and-goal at the 10-yard line.

Holley returned an interception for a touchdown with 2:35 remaining in the first half.

Durango quarterback Chase Roberts connected on two 30-yard passes to receiver Thomas Flanagan in the third quarter and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Christian Ramirez.

On the ensuing play, wide receiver Todd Jackson returned a kickoff 70 yards to set up a 19-yard touchdown run by Chase Roberts to put the game out of reach.

Shadow Ridge 34, Chaparral 13 — At Shadow Ridge, Zac Hill and Deantwan Miller combined for 212 yards rushing and three touchdowns to lead the Mustangs past the Cowboys.

Miller intercepted Chaparral’s Breonta Griffin in the fourth quarter, returning the ball 85 yards. He later scored on a 2-yard run to seal the victory.

Shadow Ridge’s Nick McDearmon contributed two interceptions for the Mustangs.

Chaparral running back Pierre Jones rushed for 49 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries.

Dixie (Utah) 35, Cimarron-Memorial 21 — At Cimarron-Memorial, Dallen Reber scored on a 7-yard pass from Mike Sharp on the first drive of the game as the Flyers jumped to a 28-0 lead in their win over the Spartans.

Reber and Sharp had touchdown runs in the second quarter, and Sharp found John Matauto for a 53-yard score before Cimarron got on the board on a 17-yard run by Zach Barbara.

Stephen Nixon finished with 117 yards and scored a touchdown to cut the Flyers’ lead to 28-14 late in the third quarter, but Reber’s 50-yard touchdown run in the fourth closed the scoring.

Reber and Sharp combined for 423 total yards and had a hand in all five Dixie touchdowns.

Green Valley 14, Bonanza 13 —  At Green Valley, senior wide receiver Kyle Larimer caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Nicolas Libonati in the first half, and the Gators held on for the win over the Bengals.

Larimer finished with eight receptions for 74 yards and was the only Gator to catch a pass. Antonio Beals led the Bengals in rushing with 75 yards on 11 carries. Senior defensive back Derrick Stevens intercepted a pass to seal the win for Green Valley.

Liberty 21, Rancho 14 — At Liberty, the Patriots scored 14 points in the fourth quarter to rally past the Rams.

The Patriots survived a late drive led by James Cammack, who threw for 183 yards and two scores. A power outage with 2:41 left in the fourth quarter caused a 20-minute delay during Rancho’s final drive to try to tie the game.

Cammack threw incomplete on two goal-to-go plays in the final seconds. Ian Jackson knocked Cammack out of bounds at the 2-yard line on the last play of the game to preserve the win.

Liberty’s wishbone offense produced 225 yards on the ground, led by senior Sage Nua’s 90 yards on 10 carries. He also scored a 2-point conversion to put Liberty up 21-14.

Basic 48, Boulder City 20 —  At Basic, Justin Burdno intercepted three passes, returning two of them for touchdowns, to lead the Wolves over the Eagles.

Burdno had touchdown returns of 49 and 25 yards.

Basic quarterback Robby Faiman completed 9 of 12 passes for 120 yards and rushed for 90 yards.