Late touchdown gives Palo Verde win over Green Valley — PHOTOS
Palo Verde took the football field Friday night against a Green Valley team that blasted its first two opponents.
Then the Panthers likely lost their starting quarterback to a season-ending injury, replacing him with a QB-turned-wide receiver, and twice fell behind by two touchdowns.
Finally, they faced three fourth downs on the final drive and converted all three, with Paisley Nichelson picking up the final first down with a 1-yard run with 26 seconds left to secure a 21-20 win.
Nichelson, who rushed for 116 yards on 23 carries, also converted a fourth-and-4 and a fourth-and-3 on the drive.
“We’re just a power team,” Nichelson said. “We have strength. We never quit. We know we can do it, so we’re going to do it.”
For Green Valley (2-1), it was clear this game wouldn’t be the breeze they experienced the first two weeks in beating Canyon Springs and Chaparral by a combined 102-6. Palo Verde (2-1) represented a notable step up in competition for the Gators.
“Hopefully, (the players) learned that they need to have good practice habits,” Green Valley coach Brian Castro said. “Being successful on Friday night starts in practice. Hats off to Palo Verde. They came out and smacked us in the mouth, and they did a great job.”
Green Valley was crisper early, taking a 14-0 lead on Jaylen Mcknight’s 74-yard touchdown burst in the first quarter and quarterback Josiah Kiaaina’s 1-yard keeper in the second. Mcknight finished wth 156 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.
The lead looked as if it would hold up until halftime, especially given Palo Verde lost starting quarterback Davis Whetten to a broken ankle.
“Our mental toughness started when we lost our quarterback in the first quarter,” Palo Verde coach Joe Aznarez said. “Our kids stepped up and decided, ‘We’re not going to lose this game.’”
Backup Brady Denardin provided a jolt to the offense with a 22-yard pass to Isaiah Wolf, setting up a 19-yard TD to Wolf as the first-half clock expired.
The Panthers’ momentum disappeared on the second-half kickoff. Nichelsen was slammed by Green Valley’s Luke Macias, who forced a fumble that teammate Kendall Saragosa-Ayersman recovered. The Gators scored on the next play on Mcknight’s 30-yard run, putting Green Valley ahead 20-6. The extra point was blocked.
That block turned out to be crucial, and the Panthers made sure they took advantage.
“We knew they weren’t as good as they thought,” Nichelson said. “We knew we were the better team.”
Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.
