Sierra Vista uses strong second half to rally past Basic

Knowing his team was built for battles of endurance, Sierra Vista football coach John Foss refused to panic Friday when his squad trailed by a point at halftime.

His faith was rewarded in the second half, as the Mountain Lions ran off 27 unanswered points en route to a 46-20 home rout over Basic.

Bryan LaGrange rushed 17 times for 188 yards and two touchdowns to lead Sierra Vista, which awoke midway through the third quarter after being outplayed in the first half.

“We knew Basic was very talented,” Foss said. “We knew we’d have to control the clock and have some sustained drives to be able to do that.”

The Mountain Lions (1-1) failed to achieve that objective in the first half, as the Wolves outgained them 221 yards to 120. Franco Mays and Paul Myro ran for touchdowns in the half for Basic (1-1).

Sierra Vista countered with a scoring run by Taelase Gaoteote and a TD pass from Trevor Gentner to Aaron Kahaleauki, but the Mountain Lions trailed 14-13 at halftime.

“I think we’re a big and physical team,” Foss said. “In the second half, that can take effect, and it wears on a team.”

The Wolves also wore on themselves by committing 17 penalties.

Sierra Vista momentarily nabbed the lead when LaGrange sprinted down the right sideline for a 76-yard TD early in the third quarter to make it 19-14.

Basic recaptured the lead at 20-19 on a 35-yard pass from Myro to Zack Grismanauskas two minutes later.

But it was all Sierra Vista from there, and Foss said he wasn’t sure whether his offense or defense was responsible for the turnaround.

“One thing just kind of led to the other, I guess,” he said.

The Mountain Lions took over for good on a 31-yard TD run by LaGrange midway through the third quarter. Frank Hines later scored on another Gentner pass, and Isaiah Zavala and Amire Tarkington ran for fourth-quarter TDs to put it away.

Gentner completed 4 of 11 passes for 73 yards and two TDs, and Zavala finished with 66 yards on four carries for Sierra Vista.

Myro completed 14 of 28 passes for 124 yards and a TD to lead Basic.