Three is Spring Valley’s magic number: Trio of key plays leads to win

Last week, after Spring Valley was unable to take advantage of “short-field” possessions against Bishop Gorman, head coach Kelly Murphy decided to take some extra time in practice to prepare for Sierra Vista.

The extra practice certainly paid off. The No. 7 Grizzlies used three key plays to score three consecutive touchdowns midway through the first half and earn a 33-20 home victory over Sierra Vista.

With Spring Valley down 7-0, Jacob Bodine intercepted a Jeremy Green pass and went 36 yards to the Sierra Vista 23. Two plays later, Jacques Adams scored the first of his three touchdowns, from nine yards out.

On the next Lion possession, Sierra Vista (2-4, 1-2 Southwest) faced fourth-and-one at the 49. But Akil Sharp was nailed for a loss of one, and Spring Valley would take advantage. Adams scored again, from 36 yards, and the home squad pushed the lead to 13-7.

In perhaps the night’s most bizarre play, Sierra Vista’s David DeCarlo missed badly on a 45-yard field goal attempt but Keenan Sanders alertly picked up the miss and went 57 yards to the Lion 28. Five plays later, quarterback Anton Stallworth scored on a 1-yard run, and Spring Valley (4-1, 2-1 Southwest) led 19-7.

“We had chances on a short field last week and came up empty,” Murphy said. “You have to cash in on those opportunities, and we did that tonight. It was good to see us execute in those situations.”

Sharp, who led Sierra Vista with 96 yards on 29 carries, scored on a 1-yard run late in the third period cutting the deficit to 19-13.

However the Grizzlies answered with Stallworth’s 11-yard pass to Mike Caster, and Adams final score on a 21-yard run. Sharp finished the scoring with a 23-yard TD with just more than six minutes remaining.