Second-quarter surge sends Wildcats past Mustangs

It wasn't the prettiest of victories, but Las Vegas' football team picked up its first of the season over winless Shadow Ridge on Friday with a 44-26 win.

Las Vegas' Elijah Hicks accounted for 236 yards on offense, running for 162 and tallying 74 receiving, and he scored three touchdowns to lead the Wildcats (1-1) to the road win.

Las Vegas quarterback Ronnie Broadhead completed 11 of 19 pass attempts for 191 yards and threw one touchdown, while running for two more in the victory.

"We didn't play very good last week; too many turnovers and we didn't tackle very well, so that was our focus this week," Las Vegas coach James Thurman said. "We still had too many turnovers tonight, and we still didn't tackle very well, but we got better. And that's our goal every week, and we got a win out of the deal, so we'll take it."

The game was marred by 21 penalties and five turnovers, including three by the Wildcats.

But an explosive second quarter that saw Las Vegas build a 23-point lead by halftime was the difference.

After falling behind 7-0 midway through the first quarter, the Wildcats scored 30 unanswered points, highlighted by a 63-yard scamper by Hicks just before the end of the first quarter.

Shadow Ridge (0-3) fumbled on the first play of its next possession, and Las Vegas place-kicker Ricardo Ortega gave the Wildcats a 9-7 lead with a 35-yard field goal moments later.

After forcing the Mustangs to punt on their next possession, Las Vegas extended its lead when Broadhead found Hicks for a 46-yard TD reception.

A blocked punt recovered in the end zone by Thomas Dorsey, and a 9-yard TD run by Broadhead later in the quarter put the Wildcats ahead 30-7 at intermission.

Shadow Ridge wasn't done, however, as it scored on its first three possessions of the second half and closed the gap to 37-26 with 10:25 left in the game when Dominick Wilson rumbled 6 yards for a score.

A trio of penalties during Las Vegas' next possession deflated the momentum Shadow Ridge had built, and after the Wildcats lined up for a field goal and the Mustangs were flagged for roughing Ortega, Hicks scored from 10 yards out to ice the game with 7:21 left.

"It wasn't about me tonight, it was about my offensive line. I just took what they gave me," Hicks said. "At the beginning, I wanted to come out a bit aggressive, but I realize it's a team effort, so we worked together as a team to get the W tonight."

Wilson finished with 57 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Shadow Ridge, while teammate Aubrey Nellems contributed with 66 yards and one rushing TD on four carries.