Marcus Turner, Needles defense dominate Calvary Chapel
Last year, Marcus Turner was a backup who had 15 total touches for the Needles football team. Friday night, he scored on his first two touches of the game.
Turner rushed for touchdowns on the Mustangs’ first two plays of the night, and the junior running back finished with three TDs as the Mustangs cruised to a 60-0 road win over Calvary Chapel.
“This is my first year doing really well, so it feels really great,” Turner said. “I feel important.”
Turner touched the ball just eight times, but racked up 141 yards of offense, including 103 rushing yards on seven carries.
If Turner was the unstoppable force for Needles (4-0, 2-0 Class 2A Southern League) on Friday, the defense was the immovable object. Of Calvary Chapel’s 22 plays that were either runs or completed passes, the defense forced 10 negative-yardage plays and three more for no gain.
“They’re flying around and doing what they need to,” Needles coach Matt Fromelt said. “They’re doing their job well.”
Needles had five sacks, including two apiece from Doogie Harvey and Justin Fuller. It also recorded a defensive touchdown — a 1-yard fumble recovery by Robert Hancock — and a safety, which gave the Mustangs an 18-0 lead.
A 27-yard passing touchdown from Jayden Yeager to Trey Tsosie followed, then an 11-yard rushing score by Tristan Pletcher and and a 1-yard TD run by Turner that made it 40-0 at halftime.
League play has been no problem so far for the Mustangs. They outscored Mountain View and Calvary Chapel by a combined 104-0, and have not allowed a point 101 minutes, 4 seconds of game time dating back Sept. 8 at Boulder City.
Calvary Chapel (0-3, 0-2) did not field a team in 2016, and 2017 has carried its fair share of growing pains. But a bright spot for the Lions on Friday was the play of freshman Zeus Inguanzo, who had two interceptions and also caught an 11-yard pass.
Contact Justin Emerson at jeme
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