Chaparral runs past Del Sol.

Chaparral coach Paul Nihipali wanted to see two things from his Chaparral squad: an effective rushing attack and a good response after suffering a disappointing loss.

The Cowboys answered their coach’s call by rolling up 214 yards on the ground in a 34-8 victory over host Del Sol on Friday in the 3A Sunrise League opener for both schools.

Santiago Vialpando threw for two touchdowns and Jason Ford rushed or 87 yards and two scores on 17 carries as the Cowboys (1-0, 3-2) bounced back from last week’s 28-21 loss to Pahrump Valley.

Chaparral held Del Sol (0-1, 3-2) to 128 yards of total offense and senior wide receiver/linebacker returned an interception for 30 yards for another Cowboys score.

“We were looking to establish the running game to complement our passing attack,” Nihipali said. “I’m satisfied with how we ran the ball. They stepped up tonight.”

Vialpando, who was averaging more than 28 pass attempts entering the game, went 8-for-11 for 132 yards and an interception. He did, however, throw a 48-yard touchdown strike to Kentrell Petite late in the first quarter.

“It was straight streak route and a high ball,” Vialpando said. “Laid it out there for (Petite) and he went and got it.”

Del Sol barely got the ball back went Dragons quarterback Maalik Flowers had a pass picked off by Gaddy. The senior outside linebacker had drifted out into the flat, stepped in front of Flowers’ throw and weaved his way past defenders for a second Cowboys touchdown.

Del Sol got going offensively on its final drive of the second quarter. Taariq Flowers reeled off a couple of strong runs before his younger brother, Maalik, found Titan Williams on a 26-yard touchdown pass.

Unfortunately for the Dragons, that was their only big play. Taariq Flowers came in averaging more 125 rushing yards per game, but was held to 45 yards on 19 carries.

“We wanted to focus on the run first,” Gaddy said. “We also wanted to communicate better on defense than we had been.”

Dragons coach Gary Maki was more to the point about Chaparral’s defense.

“They manhandled us in the trenches,” Maki said. “We are a young team who starts two freshmen and one senior on offense. With so much youth, you are going to hit some growing pains and this was one of them.”

Chaparral was better in the second half and extended its lead.

“It was these little mistakes we made that were costing us,” Vialpando said. “We wanted to clean things up and come out better.”

The ground approach eventually paid off when Ford rumbled in from 22 yards with 30 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 20-8. On the next drive, Vialpando hit Gaddy on an out-and-in slant and the senior took it 63 yards for another score. Ford added a 2-yard scoring run.