Rattlers rely on fast start

Football games usually aren't won or lost on the opening drive.

But for a Mojave team struggling mightily on offense, marching down the field on their first possession Friday night made all the difference.

The Rattlers took nine plays to go 45 yards on the drive to take the lead on their way to a 15-7 road win at Spring Valley.

"We usually start games off really slow," Mojave coach Joe Delgado said. "So to come off like that, have a nice, long drive, keep our defense fresh and keep them on their toes was huge for us. It built the momentum for the rest of the game. I believe that first drive actually probably won the game for us."

Mojave (4-2, 3-1 Sunset League) had gone six quarters without scoring on offense, and was forced to use backup quarterback Taiwan Braden with starter Lamaja Cunningham out for the season with a collarbone injury.

Braden and the Rattlers didn't do anything special on that first drive, but chipped away at the Grizzlies, and Braden capped the possession with a 1-yard plunge on third-and-goal to give Mojave a 7-0 lead.

"We know how good we are, but we don't always play to our full potential," senior linebacker Kaleb Friedman said. "We always play down or play to the level of our opponents. When we come out there and score on the first drive, that's huge for us. It takes the pressure off the defense.

"It was at ease to us that the game was not going to be all on our shoulders."

Friedman and the Rattlers have put together strong defensive performances all year, holding four of six opponents to single digits. Even in their two losses, the Rattlers played well defensively, at least for three quarters, but the offense wasn't able to come through.

"You saw we went for it fourth-and-long from midfield. We just have that confidence in our defense," Delgado said. "They've been pretty much shut-down all year long. It makes our offense go a lot easier."

The Rattlers were outstanding on defense Friday, limiting Spring Valley to 50 yards of offense. The Grizzlies (4-2, 2-2) had negative 54 yards rushing, in part because of a series of bad snaps that led to big losses.

"We had a lot of pressure today," Delgado said. "Our ends did a great job. It helped us that they had a few miscues on their snaps, but I think that was due to the pressure coming up the middle."

One of those bad snaps led to Mojave's only points of the second half, when consecutive miscues on snaps led to a safety. The second bad snap from the 8-yard line went into the end zone, and Spring Valley quarterback K.C. Moore was tackled in the end zone by Alex Carvahlo with 11:06 to play.

"We just applied the pressure," Friedman said. "The center couldn't handle it. But that's how we were taught by our coaches, just be aggressive. We're a really aggressive defense."

The Rattlers nearly recorded their second shutout, but Moore was able to hit Antony Vazquez on a 20-yard post pass for a touchdown with 27 seconds left for Spring Valley's points.

Braden, making his first start, had only two completions but the first ball he threw was by far the best. He hit Jesse James in stride down the right sideline for a 46-yard TD pass that put Mojave up 13-0 with 1:43 to go in the first quarter.

"On the shorter stuff, he's rushing himself, not setting his feet," Delgado said. "So maybe we've got to do a couple more deep balls for him."

Elijah Smoot rushed for 92 yards on 18 carries for the Rattlers, who face Cheyenne next week.

"It was a big confidence booster, getting over this hump," Friedman said. "The momentum's going to push over to Cheyenne. That's a big rival to us. I'm excited to play them."

— Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him: @DamonSeiters