SMALL SCHOOLS: Tonopah rips Spring Mountain

An 0-2 start isn’t exactly how Tonopah coach Curt McElroy envisioned his team defending its Class 1A state football championship from a year ago.

But on Friday, the Muckers served notice for the second straight week that they still plan on figuring into the postseason picture.

Tonopah scored 40 points in the second quarter on the way to a 75-12 romp at Spring Mountain in a Southern League game.

McElroy chalked up the 0-2 start to poor conditioning and his team having to learn a complex shotgun option/pistol offense.

“Our quarterback has 51 plays on his wristband,” McElroy  said. “We’re a complicated offense. We do a lot of different things. It takes a little while for them to get it down.”

Muckers quarterback Scott Thibodeaux certainly had it down Friday.

Thibodeaux scored five touchdowns and threw for another. The senior carried 11 times for 74 yards and three TDs, scoring on runs of 2, 3 and 49 yards.

And despite also throwing for 70 yards and a score, Thibodeaux might have made his biggest mark on special teams — where he scored on punt returns of 50 and 40 yards.

But Thibodeaux, who also plays cornerback, was unhappy his team trailed 6-0 early and led only 13-12 entering the second quarter.

“We just started off slow,” he said. “It’s in our heads. We always do that. We’ve got to get over that.”

Tonopah (2-2, 2-0) totaled 347 yards of offense, but it struggled in the first quarter.

Spring Mountain (1-3, 0-1) opened the game with an 11-play, 65-yard scoring drive spanning 4:30 that ended with Nigel Hinton’s 8-yard scoring grab.

But Tonopah rattled off 13 consecutive points and never trailed again.

“We made a couple adjustments as far as what we were doing with their receivers,” McElroy said. “We moved our linebackers out and tried to jam them at the line of scrimmage.”

It appeared to work, as Jeff Blackburn picked off two passes to help the Muckers keep the Eagles out of the end zone after the first quarter.

Tonopah also got big ground games from Denver Otteson (105 yards, three touchdowns) and Mike Dolfin (89 yards, two scores).

Delquan Danford led Spring Mountain with 58 yards on 10 carries, and Hinton caught three balls for 53 yards.

Faith Lutheran 28, Desert Oasis 6 — At Desert Oasis, Joe Portaro passed for 276 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Crusaders (4-1) past the Diamondbacks (2-3) in a game that had 76 pass attempts and 11  turnovers.

Faith Lutheran’s Don Pearson caught 11 passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns, and Croix Nikodemus added a 6-yard touchdown reception.

Portaro also had 55 yards to lead all rushers.

Desert Oasis’ score came on a 70-yard fumble return by Angelo Bianco in the third quarter.

Virgin Valley 55, Diamond Ranch (Utah) 8 — At Mesquite, Terran Leavitt threw for three touchdowns in the first quarter as the Bulldogs (4-1) rolled to victory.

Leavitt completed 7 of 12 passes for 131 yards and four touchdowns, hooking up with Zach Horlacher and Anthony Morris for two scores apiece.

Jonathan Gleave scored on a 69-yard run and a 72-yard punt return.

The Bulldogs racked up 215 rushing yards on 27 carries and held Diamond Ranch to 18 yards passing and 124 total yards.

Pahranagat Valley 72, Beatty 8 — At Alamo, the Panthers (5-0, 2-0) built a 58-8 halftime lead and coasted to the Class 1A Southern League win.

Pahranagat Valley scored 37 points in the first quarter and finished with a 531-137 advantage in total yardage.

The Panthers’ Taylor Poulsen threw for 187 yards and four touchdowns, and Jay Leavitt rushed for 129 yards and a score. Dustin Poulsen hauled in two passes for 97 yards and two TDs.

Tony Dare caught three balls for 96 yards and a touchdown to lead the Hornets (2-2, 1-1).

Needles (Calif.) 59, West Wendover 0 — At West Wendover, the Mustangs (3-1, 2-0 2A Southern league) overcame five first-half turnovers and rolled to the win after leading 39-0 at halftime.

Round Mountain 54, Sandy Valley 0 — At Round Mountain, the Knights built a 46-0 halftime lead on their way to the Class 1A Southern League rout.

Cody Burgraff rushed for two touchdowns and returned a punt for another for Round Mountain (2-2, 1-1).

Lincoln County 42, White Pine 13 — At Ely, the Lynx won after outscoring the Bobcats 22-0 in the second half.

Laughlin 58, Mohave (Ariz.) Accelerated 16 — At Laughlin, the Cougars routed the visitors to move to 4-1.