Green Valley displays poise in comeback win over rival

Green Valley’s Gio Hernandez and Christian Lopez made sure adversity didn’t topple the Gators on Friday night.

Hernandez rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown in the second half and had a key kickoff return, and Lopez ran for two second-half scores to lead the visiting Gators to 31-27 victory over Basic in the annual “Henderson Bowl.”

“When it was most needed, we scored,” Lopez said. “When we needed a stop, the defense came up.”

Fourth-ranked Basic (3-1) needed less than two minutes in the second half to score and push its lead to 20-10.

But Hernandez responded with an 83-yard kickoff return, setting up a 3-yard TD run by Lopez with 8:47 to go in the third quarter.

Basic snatched the momentum back when Antraye Johnson took a screen pass from Jaylen Rose, slipped outside and streaked down the left sideline for a 54-yard touchdown, giving the Wolves a 27-16 lead with 5:39 to go in the third quarter.

But the ninth-ranked Gators (3-1) responded again, with Hernandez capping an 11-play, 75-yard drive with a 15-yard TD run to cut the lead to three.

“That’s kind of been our guys’ M.O.,” Green Valley coach Brian Castro said. “We start fighting hard when our back’s against the wall. These kids have got some character and a little bit of moxie, and they’ll rise up and play football.”

Lopez scored on a 2-yard run with 9:19 to play to put the Gators up for good. The sophomore quarterback finished with 105 yards on 18 carries.

“He’s done a great job running the football, but he had a lot of help there blocking up front,” Castro said.

Green Valley’s defense kept Basic without a first down on its final four possessions. The Wolves came into the game averaging 55 points and 480 yards of offense. They had 310 yards on Friday.

“That’s a really good football team over there, and our defense played lights out,” Castro said. “They made plays when we needed them to, and they stepped up big. I can’t say enough for our defense.”

The Gators finally sealed it when Hernandez picked off a Rose pass with nine seconds to play.

“He’s a really good football player for us, and he wants to be good for us,” Castro said of Hernandez. “We need to do a better job of getting him involved in some things, and we did that tonight, and it helped a lot.”

The Gators also did a fantastic job on Basic standout receiver Devonte Boyd. Boyd entered the game with 23 catches for 491 yards and nine TDs in the first three games. He had only two catches for 15 yards, including a 9-yard TD pass from Rose that put Basic up, 20-10.

“We knew we had to stop him,” Castro said. “He’s a dynamic player. We focused on it, and our kids executed as well as we could have.”

Johnson had a big game for Basic, carrying the ball 10 times for 123 yards and a touchdown. He also caught seven passes for 123 yards and two TDs, including a 27-yard TD reception late in the first half for Basic.

But Rose never got going. He entered the game having completed 61.5 percent of his passes, but was only 11-for-38.

Gino Jonassaint had 17 carries for 59 yards, including a 5-yard TD run in the second quarter, for Green Valley. Lopez also completed 12 of 22 passes for 138 yards.

“As a team, we came a lot closer these last two weeks,” Lopez said. “We came together, and I think we’re a lot stronger now than ever.”