Mojave uses big plays to move to 4-0

One or two plays sometimes can be the difference in a high school football game.

Mojave made two huge ones in the first half Friday night.

The Rattlers stopped Sierra Vista on fourth-and-goal from the 1, then got a 95-yard touchdown run from Davion Fletcher on the next play to take control on the way to a 28-7 road victory.

“Momentum’s huge in a game like this,” Mojave coach Joe Delgado said, “especially when you’re playing as a visitor at somebody else’s house and it’s their homecoming game. It’s a huge momentum swing being able to score like that and the defense hold.”

Both teams struggled to sustain drives early, but the Mountain Lions (3-1, 1-1 Sunset League) took 10 plays to drive to the Mojave 1.

But on fourth-and-goal, Kylan Green and Tyriq Banks teamed to drag down Andrew Peterson for a 4-yard loss, giving the Rattlers (4-0, 2-0) the ball back at the 5.

On the next play, Fletcher blew through a huge hole and sprinted untouched 95 yards for the score and a lead Mojave wouldn’t relinquish.

“My coach called the play, and I said ‘Coach, I got you,’ ” Fletcher said. “The team was like, ‘We’re going to block, and you just do what you do.’ They opened the hole, I took it, and it was just off to the races after that.”

Sierra Vista had rushed for 1,021 yards in three games coming into Friday but never got its ground game going against Mojave.

The Rattlers held the Mountain Lions to 155 yards of offense, all on the ground. Sierra Vista averaged 3.4 yards per carry and was 0-for-6 passing.

“It was tremendous,” Fletcher said. “Our defensive line stepped up, our linebackers played great, they filled the holes, and we made tackles. Eleven hats to the ball, and great things happen.”

Mojave also forced two fourth-quarter fumbles that helped seal the victory.

“Our defense came up huge,” Delgado said. “They have a strong offense. They stuck to their offense. They got a couple big plays on us, but I don’t believe they completed a pass on us. Our run defense just did amazing tonight.”

Fletcher got just four carries but finished with 127 yards, including a 26-yard TD run that made the score 20-7 with 9:24 to play.

That TD came after the first Sierra Vista fumble.

“Las Vegas, meet Davion Fletcher,” Delgado said. “I said at the beginning it wasn’t a one-man show.”

Mojave’s Ty Flanagan entered the game leading the area with 649 rushing yards on just 40 carries, but the senior never got going Friday. He finished with 60 yards on nine carries and was Mojave’s third-leading rusher behind Fletcher and quarterback Zack Arave (89 yards).

“Most teams think it’s just Ty,” Fletcher said. “Ty this, Ty that. We have multiple weapons. Anybody can break one at any time. You key on Ty, now that opens it up for us. And if you key on us, it opens it up for Ty. I describe our offense as electric.”

After Fletcher’s first touchdown gave Mojave the lead, Delgado began calling Arave’s number, and the quarterback had several big runs straight up the middle.

“We saw weakness on the right side of their line and took advantage of it,” Delgado said.

Arave carried the ball four times for 53 yards on Mojave’s second scoring drive, capping it with a 1-yard touchdown run. His 2-point conversion run made the score 14-0 with 1:57 left in the half.

Flanagan, who appeared hobbled by a right ankle injury most of the night, wasn’t shut out of the big plays. He had a 20-yard TD run during which he bullied his way past several defenders to get across the goal line with 1:25 to play. He also recovered the fumble that set up Fletcher’s second touchdown run and came away with a sack.

“Ty was cramping a little bit,” Delgado said. “He’ll be 110 percent come Monday.”

Maliek Broady led Sierra Vista with 94 yards on 15 carries.

Contact reporter Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters.