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Jesus Ornelas’ leg the difference in Cimarron OT win

With five scoring plays of 60 yards or more and over 900 yards of offense, it was the foot of Cimarron Memorial junior Jesus Ornelas that made the biggest impact Friday night.

Ornelas’ 32-yard field goal in overtime proved to be the difference as Cimarron turned back Mojave, 41-38. This despite Mojave’s DeSaun Smith setting a Class 4A record with 244 receiving yards.

Even after the field goal, the Rattlers still had once chance in overtime for the win.

On first down from the 10, quarterback K’maurian Philogene threw incomplete, then ran for five yards on second down. Smith, got his only carry on third down but lost seven yards.

After a timeout, Philogene was sacked for a 20-yard loss, and the homecoming crowd went home happy from Cimarron (2-2).

Ornelas, who made a pair of field goals, perhaps could take the hero’s bow but junior Jordan Norwood was without a doubt the leader. Norwood ripped the Rattlers for 242 yards on 30 carries and scored four times (30, 8, 60 and 10 yards).

“This was certainly an exciting and competitive game,” said Norwood, who surpassed the 200-yard mark for the third time this season. “I wanted to give our seniors something to remember in their final homecoming game. It was a lot of fun, for sure.”

It was the Mojave passing game that kept the Rattlers in the battle, thanks to Philogene. Philogene, who had thrown for 291 yards in two games coming into Friday, completed 11 of 24 passes for 384 yards and four TDs. Smith caught three of those scoring tosses including plays of 86 and 90 yards.

“It was up and down the field,” said Norwood, who now has 12 touchdown runs this season. “It was exciting to see all of the big plays, but we made the biggest one when it counted.”

Mojave (0-3), which gained 551 yards, tied the game at 38-38 on Noah Thompson’s 83-yard run with just over three minutes remaining. But the Rattlers missed the two-point try, and the game eventually went into the extra period.

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