FOOTBALL: Bonanza’s depth the difference

Kevin Volcic wasn’t exactly sure what to expect in his first game as Bonanza’s coach Friday, but he did know he had a key number working in his favor.

Volcic started the game with a 35-player roster while Sunrise Mountain coach Ky Edwards had only 22 men to work with.

That advantage became obvious early in the second quarter, as the Bengals seized momentum and cruised to a 38-7 victory over the Miners.

Carlos Soto rushed 16 times for 133 yards and two touchdowns to lead Bonanza, which took over with 17 points in the second quarter.

“I think (Sunrise Mountain) just ran out of gas,” said Volcic, whose team was unable to score in the first quarter. “That’s going to happen when you’ve only got 22 guys.”

The Miners wasted two long first-quarter drives, but the Bengals were unable to answer.

“We came out a little flat,” Volcic said. “Our defense, especially. You could just see it.”

But Sunrise Mountain’s defense began showing signs of fatigue in the second, allowing a 13-yard TD run by Soto and a 26-yard scoring sprint by Jayveon Taylor.

Though the Miners (0-1) got on the board with a 92-yard scoring run by Sherman Nash late in the second, Patrick Outhoummountry’s 43-yard field goal at the end of the half gave the Bengals (1-0) a 17-7 lead at the break.

Bonanza was just getting started.

“We talked at halftime,” Volcic said. “We decided we were going to take the middle and run it down their throats in the second half.”

The plan worked, allowing Soto and Taylor another touchdown run each in the third quarter, and leading to a 6-yard scoring pass from Tyler Penkalski to Jager Merrell in the fourth.

The Miners were unable to answer, as they logged just 17 yards and two first downs in the second half.

“Our goal was to start 1-0,” Volcic said. “That’s half as many as what Bonanza finished with last year.”

Merrell finished with 57 yards on four fourth-quarter carries to help the Bengals, and Taylor rushed nine times for 54 yards.

Nash racked up 143 yards on nine carries to lead Sunrise Mountain.

Virgin Valley 26, Faith Lutheran 20 (OT) — At Faith Lutheran, Garrett Leavitt ran for a 9-yard touchdown and threw a two-point conversion pass to tie the game with 1:24 to play, then tossed a 9-yard TD to DeVonte Milligan on the second play of overtime to top the host Crusaders.

Leavitt also threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Dillon Graves, and had a 1-yard touchdown run.

Keenan Smith ran for touchdowns of 11 and 8 yards to give Faith Lutheran the late lead.

But the Faith defense could not hold despite forcing Virgin Valley into two fourth-down situations. On the first, Leavitt hit Milligan for a 16-yard first-down completion. On the second, the Crusaders were flagged for pass interference.

Leavitt passed for 141 yards and also ran for 43 yards on seven carries. Faith got 66 yards rushing and 49 yards receiving from Smith.

— Neil Grepke

Clark 39, Rancho 0 — At Clark, the Chargers bolted to a 18-0 halftime lead and went on to blank the Rams.
Milan Dixon rushed for three scores, and Clark’s defense registered five turnovers.

Quarterback Andre Turner ran four times for 90 yards and a score and tossed a 14-yard touchdown pass to Clifton Smith.

Sophomore linebacker Robert Ahearn made five sacks, and teammate Alexander Floyd had a 69-yard fumble-return TD for the Chargers.

— Brennan Karle

Desert Pines 61, Western 0 — At Desert Pines, Iquan Corsey threw a pair of touchdown passes, ran for another and returned an interception 39 yards for a score as the Jaguars stopped the Warriors.

Corsey opened the scoring with the interception return just 2:12 into the game. On the Jaguars’ next possession, Corsey scored from 20 yards out to give Desert Pines a 12-0 lead.

Eric Wilkes got into the scoring frenzy with the first of his two touchdowns, on an 81-yard run. On the final play of the first quarter, Corsey hit Malik Davis on a 30-yard play to put Desert Pines up 26-0.

Desert Pines outgained Western 190-13 in the first quarter.

The Jaguars cruised from there. Western crossed midfield only twice, the second coming with less than eight minutes left in the game.

Desert Pines scored six touchdowns on the ground, led by Wilkes with 115 yards on just two carries. Xerexes Tachiquin led the Warriors with 68 yards on 13 carries. Of the 50 snaps by Western, 30 of them went for no yards or less.

Corsey completed 6 of 10 passes for 151 yards.

— Sam Leeper

Basha (Ariz.) 41, Green Valley 17 — At Green Valley, Rajhan Meriwether scored four first-half touchdowns as the Bears of Chandler overwhelmed the Gators in the season opener for both teams.

Meriwether had 14 carries for 54 yards, including TD runs of 7 and 2 yards. He also caught three passes for 98 yards, including TD receptions of 88 and 11 yards.

Meriwether helped stake Basha a 27-3 lead at halftime, as the Bears outgained Green Valley 347-78 in the first half.

Christian Lopez threw for 187 yards and a score on 19-of-33 passing to lead the Gators. Lopez also had a 7-yard TD run to cap the Gators’ opening drive of the second half.

But Basha answered with a 28-yard TD pass from Zach Werlinger to Doc O’Connor to quell any chance of a Green Valley rally.

Werlinger finished with 348 yards passing and four touchdowns for the Bears.

— Tim Guesman

Snow Canyon (Utah) 25, Shadow Ridge 6 — At Shadow Ridge, Sam Slivers rushed for a touchdown and returned an interception 25 yards for a score to lead the visiting Warriors (2-0) over the Mustangs (0-1).

Snow Canyon scored on an 11-play, 75-yard opening drive when quarterback Warner Rigby plunged into the end zone from 3 yards out.

Slivers capped another 75-yard drive on the Warriors’ second possession with a 1-yard touchdown.

J Henderson caught a pass from Dustin Puia and raced 76 yards for a score to cut the Warriors’ lead to 13-6, but the Mustangs would get no closer.

Slivers intercepted a pass on the third play of the second half and ran it in for a touchdown, and Zachary Kennedy added a 66-yard TD run to put the game out of reach.

— Adam Berchin

Layton Christian (Utah) 24, Mountain View 20 — At Mountain View, Matthew Larson ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns, but the Saints struggled on special teams and lost their season opener.

Larson rumbled 75 yards on fourth-and-10, stiff-arming one Eagles defender to the turf on the way, to make the score 24-20 with 6:36 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Layton Christian (1-1) went three-and-out on its next possession, and a 17-yard return by Nick Jenkins gave Mountain View the ball at the Eagles 37-yard line with 4:07 to play.

But Saints quarterback Ian Locke was stopped for a loss on third-and-1 before his fourth-down pass intended for Noah Van Kempen was incomplete.

Locke ran for 65 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter that put the Saints up 14-0.

Jack Chandler had 102 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles, who took advantage of two long punt returns and a muffed kickoff to score 24 unanswered points.

— David Schoen

Pahrump Valley 28, Chaparral 6 — At Pahrump, Scott Maughan ran for two touchdowns as the Trojans (1-0) scored 28 unanswered points to down the Cowboys (0-1).

Maughan tied the score at 6 with an 8-yard run in the second quarter and added a 5-yard touchdown in the third quarter.

Devontae Brown put Pahrump Valley ahead for good in the second quarter with a 42-yard fumble return for a touchdown. A.J. Segura added a 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter.

Desert Hills (Utah) 20, Foothill 16 — At St. George, Utah, Drew Doxtator threw two touchdowns, but the Falcons (0-1) couldn’t convert on fourth-and-goal midway through the fourth quarter and fell to the Thunder (2-0).

Doxtator connected with Ian Ellis in the first quarter to tie the score at 7 and found David Persi in the third quarter to make it 20-14.

The talented senior also threw a third-quarter interception that was returned for a touchdown.

Centennial (Calif.) 60, Liberty 42 — At Corona, Calif., Tyler Newman accounted for four touchdowns, but the Patriots (0-2) couldn’t keep pace with the No. 16 team in USA Today’s national rankings.

Newman threw a 24-yard touchdown to Deseon McQuain in the first quarter and added a 34-yard TD pass to Bradley Viloria. Newman also had touchdown runs of 2 and 7 yards.

Liberty trailed 39-27 at halftime.

Indian Springs 22, Tonopah 14 — At Tonopah, Mason Hamlin scored twice and added a 33-yard field goal to lead the Thunderbirds (1-0) past the Muckers (0-1) in a nonleague game.

Troy Heath also had a touchdown run for Indian Springs.

Tonopah’s Matt Misner ran for 169 yards, including a 49-yard touchdown to open the scoring.

The Muckers committed two turnovers inside the 10-yard line and also had 15 penalties for 161 yards.

Agassi Prep 55, West Wendover 0 — At West Wendover, Kobe Williams scored four touchdowns, including a 78-yard punt return, to help the Stars rout the Wolverines in the season opener for both teams.

Agassi Prep scored on every offensive series except its first and led 35-0 at the half.

Linfield Christian (Calif.) 45, The Meadows 0 — At Temecula, Calif., Alex Larson returned a punt 65 yards for a touchdown and caught a 62-yard touchdown pass to help the Lions rout the Mustangs.

Lorenzo Burns also had two TDs for Linfield Christian, scoring on a 14-yard run in the first quarter, and hauling in Derek Rack’s 33-yard pass in the second quarter.

The Meadows had just 120 yards of total offense, led by Bryson Bickart’s 59 yards on 13 carries.

Kingman Academy (Ariz.) 35, Laughlin 14 — At Laughlin, Quinton Love scored on a kickoff return and threw a touchdown pass to Brett Smith for the Cougars (0-1).