Aggies top Spartans, set up showdown with Bulldogs

It would have been easy for No. 2 Arbor View to be distracted Friday night against Cimarron-Memorial with the week’s Homecoming activities and a Northwest League showdown at Centennial approaching.

Those questions were quickly answered on the first offensive play, and the Aggies were off and running.

Senior Herman Gray scored the first of his three touchdowns on an 86-yard run, and Arbor View rushed for 472 yards, in a 46-23 home victory.

Gray added TD runs of 3 and 51 yards as the Aggies gained 499 total yards.

“It was a tough week with all the activities,” Gray said. “No doubt, we weren’t focused and we made plenty of mistakes. But I can assure you we will be ready next week for Centennial.”

Arbor View (8-0, 3-0 Northwest) had eight plays of more than 25 yards and held the Spartans to only 59 yards on the ground.

“It certainly was a wild game,” said Arbor View coach Dan Barnson, as both teams combined for 863 total yards. “Cimarron is a good football team and they kept fighting. But we made the plays when we needed them, and now it’s back to work.”

Charles Louch rushed for 153 yards on seven carries for the Aggies. Louch’s touchdown runs of 50 and 69 yards gave Arbor View a 26-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

Cimarron answered with eight straight points on a safety and a Tyree Riley 2-yard run, to cut the margin to 26-15 at halftime.

But Curtis Jones quickly grabbed back the momentum to start the third quarter for Arbor View, when he returned the second-half kickoff 92 yards for the touchdown.

“It was important to get the momentum back quickly in the third quarter,” Barnson said. “Curtis made a huge play, and that really set the tone for the rest of the game.”

Cimarron quarterback Derek Morefield completed 19 of 37 passes for 305 yards and a touchdown and added a 2-yard run for another score. Rassan Mills caught five passes for 105 yards for the Spartans (3-5, 1-2).