FOOTBALL: Wolves’ defense shackles Skyhawks

Basic's football team had its share of offensive heroes Friday night, but that's not what coach Jeff Cahill wanted to talk about after the game.

Instead, Cahill praised his defense, which gave up just 162 yards while forcing five turnovers to lead the sixth-ranked Wolves to a 35-21 home victory over Silverado.

Quarterback Aeneas McAllister capitalized on the defense's effectiveness by completing 14 of 24 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns.

"Our defense played great tonight," said Cahill, whose squad held Silverado to 54 yards of offense in the first half. "We pressured the heck out of (the Skyhawks), and they went backwards a lot. I love the way our defense played tonight."

The Wolves (4-1) got off to a shaky start after getting pinned deep in their own territory in the first quarter. The Skyhawks (3-2) made the most of their resulting good field position, needing only four plays to go ahead 7-0 on a 14-yard run by Micah Weber.

Basic evened the score at 7-7 late in the quarter when John Funaki capped an 82-yard drive with a 3-yard TD plunge up the middle, but Devion Clayton got the points back when he returned the ensuing kick 91 yards for a TD. A 2-point conversion helped Silverado to a 15-14 halftime lead.

The second half belonged to the Wolves.

"I think our defense turned it around," Cahill said. "We started off a little shaky, but we fixed some things at halftime."

Those adjustments led to a 1-yard Sean White TD and a 20-yard scoring pass from McAllister to Kendahl Blakely to put Basic ahead 28-15 early in the fourth quarter.

Silverado kept it close with a 31-yard TD pass from Christian Baltodano to Clayton to close the gap to 28-21 with 5:24 left, but the Wolves wasted little time in answering on a 49-yard TD strike from McAllister to Deondre Ishman (82 yards on four receptions) just four plays later.

The Skyhawks' final drive ended with their fourth interception of the night, and Basic worked the clock from there.

Alexander Holm helped Basic with five catches for 88 yards, and teammate Jake Waldron added 58 yards on 11 carries.

Keikiokalani Misipeka rushed 12 times for 47 yards to lead the Skyhawks.

Centennial 49, Bonanza 6 — At Centennial, Jamaal Evans threw five touchdown passes as the fifth-ranked Bulldogs (5-1, 1-0 Northwest) routed the Bengals (2-4, 0-1).

Evans threw three touchdown passes in the opening quarter as Centennial jumped out to a 21-0 lead. Kayvon Miller caught TD passes of 35 and 19 yards in the quarter, and Savon Scarver hauled in a 13-yard scoring strike with nine seconds left in the quarter.

Scarver finished with five catches and 84 yards, including a 57-yard TD pass from Evans with 5:45 to go in the third quarter. Tyler Hennis hauled in the fifth touchdown pass from Evans, a 10-yard pass play, with 7:58 left in the game.

Bonanza was held to 31 total yards in the first half, 26 rushing. The Bengals earned three first downs, two of which came on penalties. In the second half, the Bengals were gain 160 yards on the ground with six offensive first downs.

DeShawn Williams scored Bonanza's touchdown with seven minutes left in the third quarter as he found a lane to the left side for a 26-yard score. Williams finished with 150 yards on 29 carries.

Bryce Hampton intercepted two passes for Centennial.

Clark 14, Sierra Vista 6 — At Clark, Nick Kinnard didn't complete a single pass on Friday night, but he made the biggest play of the game in the second quarter.

Kinnard forced and returned a fumble 18 yards for a Clark touchdown, and the Chargers made a key fourth-and-goal stand with less than a minute to go to edge the Mountain Lions.

The junior quarterback/linebacker went 0-for-6 and threw an interception, but was picked up by running backs Milan Dixon and Robert A'Hearn. Dixon ran for 144 yards on 13 carries, and A'Hearn helped the cause with seven carries for 52 yards for Clark (3-3, 1-3 I-A Sunset). A'Hearn's 2-yard TD run with 4:16 to play extended Clark's lead to 14-6.

Sierra Vista quarterback Oscar Aliaga threw for 202 yards, but none were bigger than the 39 yards he got on a completion to Andrew Dunn on third-and-20 with 3:22 remaining.

The Mountain Lions (1-5, 1-3) got to the 9-yard line, but failed to score the potential tying touchdown with 56 seconds remaining, and the Chargers snapped their three-game losing streak.

Faith Lutheran 45, Western 0 — At Faith Lutheran, nine players were involved in the scoring as the Crusaders rolled past the Warriors.

Brenden Joyce passed for 266 yards and three touchdowns. He had a 43-yard scoring pass to Brytton Weber, a 39-yard TD pass to Alec Netski and a 38-yard TD pass to Elijah Kothe. Freshman Keagan Touchstone returned one of his two interceptions 75 yards for a touchdown.

Western (0-6, 0-4 I-A Sunset) made most of its offensive noise through the air as Greg Castaneda connected on 13 of 29 passes for 132 yards. Larry Spencer was his top target with three receptions for 51 yards.

The Crusaders (5-1, 4-0) dominated the line of scrimmage from both sides, averaging 5.7 yards per carry on offense and holding Western to 10 yards on 26 carries. Western's only trip inside Faith Lutheran's 30-yard line came on an interception by Hauhsan Blackburn.

Faith Lutheran's Christian Marshall led all rushers with 96 yards on 11 carries, and all receivers with 82 yards on five receptions.

Eldorado 32, Valley 12 — At Eldorado, Devan Dabbs passed for 227 yards and four touchdowns as the Sundevils (2-3) beat the Vikings (0-5).

Eldorado scored three touchdowns in the second quarter to take control of the game after allowing the Vikings to take a 6-0 first-quarter lead.

After tackling Valley quarterback Iyen Medlock for a safety to start the second quarter, the Sundevils scored touchdowns on their next three possessions.

Flanker Carl Crayon caught TD passes of 47 and 9 yards from Dabbs in the second quarter. Crayon finished with seven catches 171 receiving yards, including a 12-yard TD pass from Dabbs in the fourth quarter.

Valley managed to score on a 28-yard run by running back David Smith with 6:32 to go in the half, but Crayon's second touchdown gave Eldorado a 22-12 halftime lead.

Medlock faced constant pressure from the Eldorado defense and was only able to throw for 3 yards as the Vikings were held scoreless in the final two quarters. Medlock finished with 100 rushing yards to lead Valley.

Legacy 42, Durango 0 — At Durango, Naim Geeslin rushed for 141 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries, and Samuel Turner ran for 113 yards and two TDs on nine rushes to lead the Longhorns (2-4, 1-0 Southwest) over the Trailblazers (0-6, 0-1).

Geeslin rushed for 138 yards in the first half with TD runs of 1 and 25 yards in the first quarter for Legacy, which held Durango to 28 yards of total offense.

Turner provided rushing scores of 60 and 43 yards, and Justin Whitehead and Ahmyreon Culpepper each had 1-yard TD runs for the Longhorns, who attempted only two passes.

Kevin Mendiola had three sacks for Legacy.

Brent Gray contributed seven tackles, and Kenneth Varela had a sack for the Trailblazers.

Moapa Valley 61, Del Sol 14 — At Overton, Nate Cox threw for 191 yards and two touchdowns, and R.J. Hubert scored on a run, a reception and a kickoff return to lead the Pirates over the Dragons.

Cox opened the scoring with a 27-yard run, and R.J. Hubert scored on a 3-yard run late in the first quarter.

Sterling Simmons rushed for 91 yards on eight carries, including a 38-yard TD run. Hubert caught a 10-yard TD pass from Cox, and Jacob Leavitt ran for two second-quarter touchdowns to give Moapa Valley a 40-6 lead at the half.

Hubert returned the second-half kickoff 71 yards for a score, and the Pirates (4-2, 2-1 Sunrise) cruised to the victory.

Parker Steele had two receiving touchdowns for Del Sol (1-5, 1-3).

Sunrise Mountain 34, Boulder City 10 — At Boulder City, Claude Moore rushed for 158 yards and two scores to lead the Miners over the Eagles.

Xavier Kyle had four catches for 114 yards and a touchdown and T'Andre Love added two touchdown catches for Sunrise Mountain (4-2, 2-2 Sunrise).

Boulder City is 1-5, 0-3.

Pahranagat Valley 50, Beatty 8 — At Beatty, Tabor Maxwell threw seven touchdown passes, including three to wide receiver Shawn Wadsworth, to lead the Panthers by the Hornets.

Maxwell was 12 of 15 passing for 337 yards, and Wadsworth finished with five catches for 102 yards for the Panthers (5-0, 3-0 Division IV Southern).

David Ingram added 142 yards receiving and two scores, and Christian Higbee and Cody Williams each had a TD reception for Pahranagat Valley, which led 26-0 at halftime.

Jacob Henry connected with Isaias Femat on an 11-yard TD pass for Beatty (1-4, 0-3 Southern).

Tonopah 43, Sandy Valley 40 — At Tonopah, Kade Bunker had 15 carries for 109 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Muckers (4-1, 2-1 Division IV Southern) by the Sidewinders (3-2, 2-1).

Scotty May added 112 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and Tanner Otteson had 55 yards rushing on seven carries for Tonopah.

Tanner Otteson also completed 8 of 15 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown to Tristan Otteson.

Lincoln County 39, Battle Mountain 13 — At Panaca, McClain O'Connor completed 18 of 20 passes for 184 yards and five touchdowns to help the Lynx (4-1) down the Longhorns (3-2).

Cody Thornock had four receptions for 39 yards and two touchdowns to lead Lincoln County, which got TD receptions from Mike Wood, Derek Mathews and Zach Florence.

Mathews also had a rushing score, and Will Culverwell contributed 68 rushing yards on 14 carries for the Lynx.