Arbor View runs over Desert Pines, 51-0

Arbor View linebacker J.J. Tuinei saw the guard pull and figured the offensive lineman would lead the way to the running back.

Tuinei was right.

He followed the guard and stuffed the Desert Pines runner on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line. The final score doesn’t show how important the play was.

Tuinei’s stuff helped preserve the Aggies’ lead, and Arbor View rolled to a 51-0 home win over the Jaguars.

“That stop down there in the second quarter, that was big,” Arbor View coach Dan Barnson said.

Arbor View led 7-0 with the Jaguars driving when Tuinei snaked his way into the backfield to stuff Michael Lofton for a 1-yard loss. On the next play, Jaguars quarterback Tyler Williamson fumbled the snap, and Arbor View took over at the 6-yard line.

“I kept seeing the guard pull, and I was like, ‘If the guard’s pulling, I’m going to just follow him,’ ” Tuinei said. “I followed him right into the ball carrier and that was that.”

That stop set up a 14-play scoring drive, capped by a Jaquari Hannie 4-yard TD run with 1:24 to go in the half to make it 14-0.

The two-touchdown lead quickly morphed to much more in the final 12 seconds of the half.

Desert Pines punter Victor Palafox couldn’t come down with a high snap on a punt, and he was tackled in the end zone by Deago Stubbs for a safety with 12 seconds to go.

On the ensuing free kick, Rodney Pitts took the ball at the Arbor View 27, bounced outside and raced down the right sideline for a 73-yard TD return and it was suddenly 23-0.

“That’s tough as a coach to walk into the locker room and go, ‘Oh my God, what just happened in the last 25 seconds of the game,” Barnson said.

The Aggies continued their dominance on both sides of the ball in the second half. The defense limited Desert Pines to 103 yards of offense, with just 15 coming in the second half.

Tuinei had two tackles for loss and a sack, and Zach Elefante recorded two sacks to lead the Aggies (2-0).

“We love to ball, and our defense just swarmed to the ball,” Tuinei said. “That’s what we do.”

Five running backs had TD runs for Arbor View, including Tuinei, who closed the scoring with a 1-yard plunge with 3:09 to play.

Kyle Graham had 89 yards and a touchdown on eight carries, and Hannie finished with 11 carries for 84 yards. Fullbacks Cameron Phillips and Nathan Egbalic also had scoring runs.

Four of the five rushing TDs were scored by fullbacks.

“We knew with the front that they gave us that we thought our fullbacks would kind of get goiong,” Barnson said. “And we’ve got quite a few kids that can carry the ball.”

Arbor View finished with 303 rushing yards, and Barnson praised offensive linemen Cristian Taylor, Roderic Newton, Spencer Stimpson, Gunner Christensen and Matt Smith.

“It starts with those guys up front,” Barnson said. “It’s a special group. I don’t know how many of them are going to play at the next level and play college. But as high school football players, they are really, really good. That is a band of brothers.”

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Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587. Follow @DamonSeiters on Twitter.