Roundup: Defense shines again for Foothill in win over Pioneers

Through four games one thing is clear: Good luck scoring on Foothill’s defense.

The Falcons had another impressive outing Friday at Canyon Springs that left coach Marty Redmond giddy. They didn’t allow a point in the second half and picked off two passes in a 17-14 win.

“Our defense was phenomenal tonight,” Redmond said. “They’ve played extremely well, extremely hard and disciplined. That team has a ton of team speed, so if you get caught out of position they’re going to make a big play.”

Foothill (4-0) has allowed 27 points through four games, but was flagged four times on Canyon Springs’ first drive and allowed a 98-yard touchdown pass on its second. From there, the Falcons allowed no points and just 122 yards on the Pioneers’ last 31 plays.

Canyon Springs’ other TD was a 65-yard punt return by Martin Blake.

“One big play, and that was it,” Redmond said. “They just played awesome all night long.”

On offense the Falcons were led by quarterback Koy Riggin, who passed for 257 yards and a TD while hitting seven different receivers. The junior hit wide receiver Braeden Wilson, who finished with 132 yards, with a 10-yard pass on third down with 1:09 remaining.

“He’s the real deal man,” Redmond said. “He thinks like a coach out there. Our conversations when he comes off (the field), I feel like I’m talking to another coach.”

The game started with a moment of silence for Dalvin Brown, a former Canyon Springs student who died Tuesday after being shot on campus.

The Pioneers’ (1-2) long TD pass put them up 6-0, but Riggin answered with a TD pass of his own in the second quarter.

Blake’s second-quarter punt return put Canyon Springs ahead again but Foothill kicker Ollie Chori hit a 44-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to cut the deficit to 14-10. The Falcons took the lead for good on their first drive of the third quarter.

“Defense definitely locked it down in the second half,” Riggin said. “It was an important momentum builder for us. We grinded it out in the end. … It was a real confidence booster for our team, for sure.”

JSerra Catholic (Calif.) 50, Faith Lutheran 10 — At San Juan Capistrano, California, the Crusaders struck first with a 38-yard field goal, but the Lions scored 28 points in the second quarter and rolled to victory.

Peyton Thornton scored on a 25-yard pass from Sagan Gronauer, and Keagan Touchstone had a first-quarter interception for Faith Lutheran (1-3).

Six players scored for the Lions. Quarterback Caden Bell threw three touchdown passes, including a 52-yarder to Tarik Luckett.

Boulder City 41, Western 3 — At Boulder City, Thorsten Balmer ran for a game-high 152 yards and four touchdowns as the Eagles rolled past the Warriors.

Balmer opened the Boulder City (3-1) offense with four straight carries and found the end zone twice. The senior, who was also named the Homecoming King, averaged more than 10 yards per carry on 15 touches and was pulled after scoring his final touchdown early in the third quarter on a 14-yard run. The Eagles totaled 272 rushing yards with 11 of their runs going for 10 or more yards and five of those going for 20 or more.

Boulder City started its first four drives inside Western territory, coming away with touchdowns on each drive. Balmer recovered a fumble at the Western 15-yard line on the opening series of the game, and then carried the ball six of the next seven times, scoring three times in less than two minutes of offensive possession time.

Parker Reynolds completed the hot first-quarter start by finding James Dunagan for a 21-yard touchdown pass reception.

Western (0-4) struggled to gain any traction offensively, going three-and-out four times, but did get on the board by completing a nine-play drive with a 39-yard field goal by Henry Fuentes. Boulder City then responded by marching 90 yards in just six plays, with Gino Carroll capping things on a 3-yard TD run. He added 53 yards on eight carries.

Moapa Valley 21, Cheyenne 6 — At Overton, Braeden St. John had 15 rushing attempts for 73 rushing yards and three touchdowns to lead the Pirates over the Desert Shields.

St. John had TD runs of 1 yard, 3 yards and 8 yards.

Hayden Redd had 10 rushing attempts for 135 yards, while also tallying three sacks on defense for Moapa Valley (4-1), ranked No. 2 in Class 3A.

The Pirates had seven sacks. Trystin Lehman had 11 rushing attempts for 61 yards for Moapa Valley.

Rayvion Brown had four receptions for 50 yards for Cheyenne (4-1), which struck first with Majae Madison’s 5-yard TD run with seven seconds to go in the first quarter.

Virgin Valley 33, Democracy Prep 18 — At Mesquite, Wyatt Delano had 33 rushing attempts for 320 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs over the Blue Knights.

Rudy Cannon had nine tackles on the night for Virgin Valley (5-0).

The rushing attack was a point of emphasis as the Bulldogs only attempted eight passes, with the offensive line creating running lane after running lane for Delano and company.

Democracy Prep fell to 1-4.

Needles 58, Lake Mead Christian 0 — At Lake Mead, Marcus Turner ran for 107 yards and three touchdowns as the Mustangs galloped past the Eagles.

Needles limited Lake Mead to just yards of offense and intercepted three passes, returning two of them for scores.

Turner got the Mustangs (3-1, 1-0 Southern League) going on the team’s first play from scrimmage, breaking a 20-yard touchdown run before the game was 30 seconds old. By the end of the quarter he had already accumulated 99 yards on just six carries.

Needles triggered the running clock in the first quarter with a flurry of three touchdowns in a span of 20 seconds. After a Tyler White touchdown run, the Mustangs recovered a muffed kickoff on the Lake Mead 15. Dawson Yeager hit John Perez with a TD pass on the next play, and Dillon Horn brought an interception back 22 yards for another touchdown on the Eagles’ next play from scrimmage.

Damon Lewis had two interceptions for the Mustangs.

Lake Mead’s big play was a 23-yard pass from Joseph Johnson to Isaiah Lardomita in the fourth quarter that put the Eagles (0-2, 0-1) on the doorstep on the end zone before Lewis’ second interception ended the threat.

Lincoln County 49, The Meadows 12 — At The Meadows, Noah Smith returned a punt 65-yards for a touchdown the first time the Lynx touched the ball as they rolled past the Mustangs.

The Lynx (3-0) scored three touchdowns in each of the first two quarters, employing a variety of weapons in the process. Four rushers — Alex Vincent, Cody Zile, Dean Ottley, and Kamdon Lewis — found the end zone. Vincent was the game’s leading rusher with 60 yards on five carries and was sharp passing the ball with limited opportunities, completing all three pass attempts for 56 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Lynx stiffled the Mustangs for much of the game. The Mustangs ran 20 times for 37 yards against a stout Lincoln Countydefense. Kicker Mathew Hafen turned in one of the game’s more impressive plays when he easily split the upright with a 40-yard field goal that put Lincoln County ahead 49-0.

The Meadows (1-2) had just 10 players dressed for the 8-man game. Quarterback Michael Corrigan finished the game completing 7 of 17 passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 6 of his final 7 passes on two second-half touchdown drives. His favorite target was Peter Hoskins, who caught three passes for 44 yards. Trey Covell (two receptions, 36 yards) and Matthew Aaron (two receptions, 22 yards) were the recipients of Corrigan’s two touchdown passes.

Pahranagat Valley 50, Beaver Dam 8 — At Alamo, Preston Higbee completed all six of his passes for 152 yards and threw three touchdown passes as the Panthers rolled past the Diamondbacks.

Higbee also had 46 rushing yards.

Pahranagat Valley’s Gage Davis also completed 4-7 passes for 49 yards and threw one touchdown pass. Jesse Jones led the Panthers (2-0, 1-0 Class 1A Southern League) with 110 rushing yards, Reece Thornton had two touchdown receptions and 77 receiving yards and John Hansen had a 75-yard kick-off returned for a touchdown. Stockton Maxwell had a 15-yard touchdown reception for Pahranagat Valley, and Paul Lewis also had a 10-yard touchdown reception.

On defense, Paul Lewis led the team with six tackles and John Hansen and Jesse Jones each had one interception for the Panthers.

Beaver Dam fell to 2-1.

Calvary Chapel 49, Laughlin 16 — At Laughlin, the Lions moved to 2-0 with an easy win over the Cougars (2-1).

Spring Mountain 67, Indian Springs 0 — At Indian Springs, the Golden Eagles rolled past the Thunderbirds to move to 1-1.

Indian Springs fell to 0-3.

SLAM Academy 30, Silver Valley (Calif.) 0 — At Yermo, California, the Bulls topped the Trojans to improve to 3-0 on the season.