4A ROUNDUP: Falcons’ defense foils Liberty
Fortunately for Redmond, his defense was near perfect.
The Falcons forced seven turnovers and allowed only 22 passing yards en route to a 12-0 home victory over ninth-ranked Liberty.
“The defense was outstanding,” Redmond said. “That was the key. It’s what we stressed all week. We needed to get turnovers to win.”
Though the Patriots (3-2, 1-1 Southeast) lost four fumbles and threw three interceptions, Foothill (3-2, 1-1) capitalized only once. Rico Meeks, a 245-pound defensive lineman, recovered a Liberty fumble and trudged across the field for a 75-yard touchdown to give the Falcons a 6-0 lead with 5:30 left in the first half.
Foothill made it 12-0 on its next possession when Parker Riggin connected with a leaping Tyrel Garner for a 5-yard touchdown.
“We knew this was going to be a defensive game,” said Foothill safety Keegan Buck, who had an interception and a sack. “We knew they were going to be tough on the ground, but we were more athletic and we stopped them.”
Liberty tried to answer on its first second-half possession, but a 44-yard drive was squelched when Foothill’s Miles Killebrew made an interception in the end zone.
The Patriots turned over the ball on two of their next three possessions and were held without a first down in the fourth quarter.
Redmond said he considered Friday’s game a must-win.
“This win is huge for us,” he said. “We were very worried about this game. If we would have lost, we would have been really worried about our chances of making the playoffs.”
Riggin led the Falcons offense, completing 15 of 25 passes for 186 yards and a touchdown. Garner made six catches for 86 yards.
Ty Byrd led the Patriots, rushing for 61 yards on seven carries.
Palo Verde 48, Cheyenne 34 — At Cheyenne, Brandon Wright rushed for 183 yards on 18 carries and scored five touchdowns as the top-ranked Panthers (6-0, 4-0 Northwest) held off the Desert Shields (3-3, 3-2).
Wright scored on runs of 56, 31, 8 and 2 yards, and returned a kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown late in the third quarter after Cheyenne had pulled to within eight points.
Led by Chappell Thomas with 121 yards and a touchdown, Palo Verde rushed for 334 yards to make up for its worst defensive showing all season. The Panthers had allowed only 14 points through five games.
Cheyenne quarterback Kody Stahl passed for 204 yards and two touchdowns on 14-for-23 accuracy. Jordan Butler caught TD passes of 30 yards from Stahl and 12 from Chris Spencer, and Marquise Hall made seven catches for 134 yards including a 15-yard TD pass from Stahl.
Xavian Johnson scored twice in the second quarter for the Desert Shields on a 15-yard run and a 34-yard pass from Spencer.
Hunt helped Desert Oasis to a 157-32 yardage edge on the ground, and Spring Valley was held without a first down until 2:06 remained in the game.
The Diamondbacks took control with a 17-point second quarter on Brennen Stott’s 31-yard field goaland Hunt’s 1- and 4-yard runs.
Spring Valley ended Desert Oasis’ shutout bid with 20 seconds remaining on Jordan Cox’s 5-yard pass to Eric Derkas.
In the second half Silverado made four sacks and forced two turnovers that led to touchdowns.
Trent Tipton scored the Skyhawks’ go-ahead touchdown midway through the third quarter on a 35-yard bootleg, making it 16-14. His touchdown came one play after Sincere Hill recovered a fumble on a botched handoff by Coronado.
Parker Gibbons partially blocked a punt on the Cougars’ next possession, and Tipton ran in from 1 yard six plays later.
Silverado’s Terran Madu-Jules had 176 yards on 25 carries, including touchdowns of 10 and 5 yards.
Matt Hollen had two sacks for Silverado and recorded a second-quarter safety after an errant punt snap in Coronado’s end zone. Dariouse Gravely added a 28-yard touchdown on an interception return.
Coronado’s Kentavius Hudson rushed for 115 yards in the first half, surpassing his previous season total (73 yards). He scored on a 4-yard reception in the first quarter and a 1-yard run to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead.
DeMarlo Virgil scored on a 17-yard run in the first quarter and finished with 120 yards rushing. Christian Rodriguez also scored in the first on a 20-yard run.
Brian Vignaud made two interceptions, including a 26-yard return for a touchdown in the third quarter to end the scoring.
Rancho junior quarterback Brandon Pletsch passed for 143 yards, including two touchdown passes to Yarbrough.
The Rams led 18-6 at the half before Eldorado rallied.
JaQuorey Williams passed for 116 yards for Eldorado.
Wharton ran for an 11-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Valley led 22-0 at halftime on a 5-yard run by Roland Hodge, Wharton’s 2-point conversion pass to Taylor Herrington, Suki Wilks’ 1-yard touchdown and Wharton’s 44-yard TD pass to Mitchell Deas. The Vikings finished with 241 rushing yards.
Chaparral’s Zachary Luciano passed for 113 yards, including touchdowns of 21 and 3 yards to Bre Onte Griffin.
Greg Tucker caught four passes for 104 yards and rushed for 72 yards on 15 carries for the Cowboys (0-5, 0-2).
Clark 28, Sierra Vista 0 — At Clark, the Chargers (3-3, 2-3 Southwest) dominated defensively, holding the Mountain Lions (0-6, 0-4) to 29 yards and two first downs.
Clark senior Andre Clay rushed for two 1-yard touchdowns and had 83 yards on 14 carries.
The game was dedicated to fallen Metro police officer Jamie Manor, a former Clark football captain.
Centennial scored one touchdown per quarter, starting with Steven Wicker’s 33-yard score on a screen pass from Christopher Henderson.
Henderson completed 10 of 13 passes for 151 yards, including a 46-yard strike to Robert Holley in the second quarter.
Senior Javahn Sanders had second-half touchdown runs of 24 and 11 yards, on his way to 104 on 12 carries.
Mojave senior quarterback Alex Sylvester suffered an upper leg injury in the second quarter and did not return.
Pahrump led 7-6 at halftime for its first lead all season, but was unable to stop Durango’s 43-point second-half surge. Mora scored on runs of 16, 41, 10, 2 and 2 yards, and Greg McKinney added a fourth-quarter TD on a 50-yard interception return.
Pahrump took its lead on Dejhan Celius’ 11-yard run and Greg Walker’s conversion kick, but suffered a 14th consecutive loss.
Sophomore Shaquille Powell rushed for 160 yards on five carries, including touchdowns of 63 and 92 yards, and freshman Jarrett Solomon completed 8 of 10 passes for 149 yards and three scores.
Jelani Walls’s interception set up a touchdown run by Ronald Lyles, and Victor Belen also scored for Gorman, which held Green Valley to minus-28 yards rushing and 78 total yards.
Gators quarterback Jordan Corbett completed his first six passes and finished 9 of 17 for 95 yards. Bobby Shiroky had four catches for 70 yards.
Boulder City quarterback Ryan Washburn scored on a 15-yard run in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead.
Eagles senior Devin Combs rushed for 153 yards on 27 carries, including a 10-yard touchdown.
Faith Lutheran’s Brad Pearson returned a kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown, and Joe Portaro kicked a 23-yard field goal to put the Crusaders up 10-7.
A bench-clearing brawl forced the Bonanza-Western game to be stopped midway through the third quarter Friday at Western.
With 8:48 to play in the quarter, a scuffle broke out between opposing players during a point-after kick attempt by Bonanza, which had taken a 20-0 lead. Players from both sidelines rushed the field and the scrum broke off into several individual fights.
After order was restored, the officials called the game in compliance with a Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association rule regarding both benches emptying for a fight.
The game could be recorded as a double-forfeit or a Bonanza victory. A decision isn’t expected until next week.
“It’s out of our hands; the NIAA will have to review the tapes,” an unnamed official said.
Western coach Fernando Carmona said he was “extremely embarrassed” by his players’ actions.
“I’m trying to change the culture of our team here, and tonight we took a huge step backwards,” Carmona said.
The Bengals dominated, getting touchdown runs by Sterling Sprau, Tim Rowe and Dasean Martin. The latter’s 38-yard TD immediately preceded the incident.
Pending the outcome, Bonanza is 3-2 overall, 3-1 in the Southwest League. Western is 1-3, 1-2.
