Quick start helps Wolves knock out Spartans

Aeneas McAllister and Josh Villaros combined to provide the knockout blow for the Basic football team during the fourth quarter Thursday night.

In reality, the Wolves’ victory was earned in the first quarter.

Visiting Basic held Cimarron-Memorial to minus-6 yards in the opening quarter and scored the first 19 points on its way to a convincing 44-19 win.

“We came out great; we came out hard,” Wolves coach Jeff Cahill said. “Our first road game, we’re a real young team, the whole TV thing and everything, coming out strong was a big, big boost for us.”

McAllister and Villaros hooked up on touchdowns of 27 and 48 yards early in the fourth quarter to give Basic (2-1) a 41-13 advantage. McAllister finished 7-for-10 for 117 yards and added 32 yards rushing.

Sean White led the Wolves with 39 yards on the ground and scored on two 1-yard plunges.

The No. 10 Spartans (2-1) committed four first-half turnovers and didn’t earn a first down until there was 9:08 remaining in the second quarter. Running back Maurice Bennett was limited to 68 yards on 22 carries as Cimarron averaged 2.6 yards per carry against the Wolves defense (86 yards on 33 carries).

“I love the way our defense played,” Cahill said. “Coming into the game, some other papers were talking about how Maurice Bennett was going to run us over and beat us by himself. The kids saw that, took it to heart, and they were focused on him.”

Spartans quarterback Derek Morefield scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter and added a 1-yard sneak with 4:06 remaining in the third quarter that cut Basic’s lead to 27-13. Morefield was 8 of 21 passing for 100 yards, but struggled in the second half as Cimarron tried to dig out of the early deficit.

Channing Reagan scored on a 93-yard kickoff return late in the fourth quarter for Cimarron.

The Spartans fumbled on the second play of the game, and Basic needed only four plays to cash in when Darius Isaia took a lateral 14 yards for a quick 6-0 lead.

On Cimarron’s next possession, punter Stone Stevenson couldn’t handle a low snap and Basic’s Kaleb Bodison recovered, leading to a 1-yard touchdown run by John Funaki that put the Wolves on top 13-0 with 5:06 to play in the first quarter.

Basic led 19-7 at halftime and then pulled away in the fourth quarter after the Spartans closed within two touchdowns.

Villaros’ first touchdown reception came three plays after the Wolves stopped Cimarron on a fourth-and-4 from its own 36-yard line. The Spartans turned it over on downs at midfield on their next possession, leading to Villaros’ second TD grab with 8:09 remaining.

“I think our quarterback is getting better and better every week,” Cahill said. “He’s throwing the ball well. He had a couple of great passes. Once we get our passing game going, I think our running game is already pretty powerful and we can do big things.”