Palo Verde hangs on to beat Sierra Vista

Sierra Vista looked like a team that had spent its entire offseason tuning up its offense and defense.

The Lions might need to spend the upcoming week working on special teams.

Palo Verde took advantage of several miscues in the kicking game to escape with a 42-40 road win in the season opener for both teams Friday night.

The Lions outgained the Panthers 530-289, but they could not overcome the barrage of muffed punts, blocked punts, missed kicks and coverage problems.

The special teams problems began early, as Palo Verde’s Tyrone Blake returned a punt 44 yards to the Lions’ 14-yard line, setting up a Chaz Thomas touchdown to give the Panthers a 14-0 first-quarter lead.

Sierra Vista cut the lead to 14-12 late in the second quarter, but Garland Lathan muffed a punt and set up Palo Verde at midfield. Four plays later, Blake scored from 10 yards out.

Just over a minute later, Jordan Batton blocked and recovered a Lions punt at the 26-yard line. On the next play, Jahari Selmon completed his first pass of the day to a wide-open Alex Bonczyk for a score.

Torin Harris picked up the opening kickoff of the second half, a squib kick, and ran it 75 yards for another score to increase the lead to 35-12.

The special teams errors overshadowed a terrific night for Sierra Vista’s offense.

Emir Lopez threw for 306 yards and two scores, and added a rushing touchdown.

Akil Sharp added 157 yards and two scores on the ground.

After the first touchdown of the game for Sierra Vista, a bad snap led to a missed extra point. Both teams scored six touchdowns, but the Lions failed on two 2-point conversions in an effort to make up for the early lost point.

Sierra Vista eventually got within two points in the final two minutes, but for the third time in the game, they couldn’t recover an onside kick attempt.

Sidney Hodge ran for 94 yards on 10 carries for Palo Verde, which mixed several shotgun packages into its traditional double-wing offense.

Rockney Ricafrente added 84 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

• Las Vegas 27, Madera (Calif.) 14 — At Las Vegas, the two-time defending Class 4A state champs piled up 449 yards of offense in their win over the Coyotes.

The Wildcats (1-1) reached the red zone on their first four possessions but scored just seven points. Quarterback Marvin Campbell hit Emery Schexnayder on a 9-yard pass for the Las Vegas score.

On the other three trips, the Wildcats missed a 27-yard field goal and were stopped twice inside the Madera 15.

The Coyotes (0-2) tied the game early in the second quarter on a 90-yard run by David Allen. However, the Wildcats took the lead for good on their next offensive play, as Schexnayder broke away on a 78-yard run.

Las Vegas’ defense contributed points just before halftime, with Isiah McNeal scooping up a fumble and going 18 yards for the TD and a 21-7 Wildcats lead.

Both teams added touchdowns in the final quarter. Wildcats quarterback Wesley Grass hit Michael Alexander for an 11-yard score. On the first play following the kickoff, Madera quarterback Nick Caraccilo found Brandon Roach on a 35-yard TD strike.

Las Vegas gained 289 yards on the ground, led by Robert Hackett with 139 yards on 14 carries. Schexnayder added 84 on three trips. Campbell completed 15 of 24 passes for 148 yards. At one point, Campbell completed eight straight attempts.

Allen led the Coyotes with 109 yards on seven carries, and Te’antre Brown added 82 on 15 carries.

— Sam Leeper

• Rancho 31, Clark 0 — At Rancho, the Rams continued their resurgence, stifling the Chargers on the way to their second straight home victory.

After going three seasons without a true home game — and suffering a 17-game losing streak in the process — senior quarterback James Cammack said it’s been a welcome change for Rancho to have success at brand new Alumni Memorial Stadium.

“We have a great homefield advantage, with our fans being the way they are,” said Cammack, who threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for another score. “We got the chance to go 2-0 on our home field. So it’s been really good.”

Cammack connected with Zack Foulkrod on a 10-yard scoring strike to make it 10-0 with 6:39 to go in the second quarter. After a Clark fumble, Cammack extended Rancho’s lead just four plays and 33 seconds later, as he sprinted to the end zone on a 9-yard run to make it 16-0, and the Rams added a 2-point conversion.

DiJon Holman hauled in a 40-yard strike from Cammack in the third quarter to make it 25-0.

The Rams’ defense also had a solid outing, holding the Chargers to 75 yards, all on the ground.

Clark looked very much like a team on a 42-game losing streak, fumbling nine times — losing eight of those — and managing just five first-downs.

— Tim Guesman

• Western 20, Green Valley 7 — At Western, Reggie Bullock rushed for 226 yards, including two long touchdown carries, to lead the host Warriors past the Gators.

Bullock had only 12 carries in Western’s season opener, but he scored on a 74-yard run midway through the second quarter and a 60-yard run with 1:43 left in the game.

The Warriors had 266 rushing yards on 29 carries, with Bullock collecting 110 yards in the fourth quarter.

Green Valley (0-2) took a 7-0 lead on Derrick Garrett’s 1-yard run on the first play of the second quarter.

Bullock’s first touchdown brought Western within 7-6.

Maurice Harrison put Western ahead for good early in the fourth quarter, capping a four-play, 63-yard drive with a 17-yard run.

Western held the Gators to 134 total yards, including just 72 rushing yards on 41 attempts, but the Warriors had 93 penalty yards in the first half.

— Bartt Davis

• Del Sol 30, Chaparral 7 — At Del Sol, the Dragons overcame a rough first half, getting four second-half touchdowns from Bryan Grenier to beat the Cowboys.

Chaparral played well early and took advantage of a second-quarter interception, converting on a third-and-goal scramble from quarterback Tyquise Anthony to go up 7-0. Del Sol, with four holding penalties and three turnovers, failed to score in the first half.

Del Sol wasted no time after the second-half kickoff, though, converting two third-and-long plays and driving the length of the field to take the lead on a Grenier touchdown run and a 2-point conversion.

The Dragons then stepped up on defense, with Logan Nester intercepting a screen pass and returning it to the Chaparral 3-yard line.

Grenier again found the end zone and later added a 61-yard touchdown reception and another 2-yard touchdown burst to finish off the Cowboys. The senior finished with 181 total yards.

Chaparral was led by Anthony, who rushed for 56 yards on 14 carries.

— Nathan Stuck

• Canyon Springs 42, Snow Canyon (Utah) 35 — At Canyon Springs, Pioneers running back DeCasio Collins scored with 42 seconds left to cap a win over the Warriors in a game that featured eight lead changes.

Snow Canyon advanced to the Canyon Springs 6-yard line before time ran out.

Juron Criner had 175 yard receiving and three touchdowns for the Pioneers.

His biggest catch, for 15 yards, came with 3:11 left in the game and Canyon Springs trailing, 35-34. The Pioneers were backed up on their own 5 and faced a fourth-and-10 when quarterback DeVonte Christopher hit him for a game-saving conversion.

Canyon Springs made quick work of the remaining 80 yards to take the lead.

Christopher had 360 yards passing, led the team with 65 rushing yards and accounted for five touchdowns.

Canyon Springs overcame 18 penalties for 146 yards.

— David Garrett

• Arbor View 43, Bonanza 21 — At Arbor View, the scoreboard was off, but the Aggies’ running game was on, piling up 341 yards rushing and five touchdowns in a rout of the Bengals (0-1).

Donald Leavitt ran for 120 yards and a touchdown for Arbor View, and Greg Gloria and Patrick Elvins also added two TDs apiece.

Arbor View quickly took control, scoring on its first three drives to take a 21-0 lead.

The Bengals’ lone bright spot was quarterback Rakim Lowe, who scrambled for 69 yards and two touchdowns.

The Aggies (1-0) started five of their 12 drives in Bonanza territory, with three of the drives starting after Bonanza turnovers.

— Gabe Whetten

• Basic 40, Durango 12 — At Basic, the host Wolves jumped out to a 21-point lead and held the Trailblazers to just 9 yards of offense in the first half as they cruised to their second win of the season.

Basic scored late in the first quarter on two rushing TDs, a 1-yarder by Anthony Ireland and a 7-yard scamper from Greg Henderson.

Late in the second quarter, Wolves quarterback Josh Ross connected with Henderson in the back of the end zone from 16 yards out to make it 21-0.

Henderson took the second-half kickoff 92 yards for a TD, and two rushing scores from Anteaus Martin capped the scoring for Basic.

Durango (1-1) got its lone offensive touchdown on a 21-yard run from Joseph Baraga, who led the Blazers with 81 yards on the ground. Durango also got a 67-yard fumble return from Thomas Flanagan late in the fourth.

Ross was 10 of 13 for 103 yards for Basic, and the Wolves’ Martin led all runners with 83 yards. Justin Burdno had two interceptions for Basic.

— Jamie Chagnon

• Liberty 34, Valley 14 — At Liberty, the Patriots (1-1) broke open a close game in the third quarter to roll past the Vikings.

Senior Michael Denton ran 37 yards for a touchdown, and senior Austin Niggemeier caught an 85-yard touchdown pass from junior Ryan Doty in the period.

Denton also scored in the first on a short run, and Ian Jackson and Carlos Tautoto also scored.

Liberty’s defense had Valley (0-2) locked down most of the game. Both Vikings scores came on long runs by Rigo Sosa.

— Jeff Hoskin

• Silverado 47, Eldorado 22 — At Eldorado, the Skyhawks (2-0) rushed for 351 yards in beating the Sundevils (0-2).

Michael Wadsworth helped the cause with two 50-yard punt returns for touchdowns.

Telvin McMillian added two TD runs, including a 75-yarder.

The game was tied at 15 after one quarter, but the Skyhawks scored 19 second-quarter points to take a 34-15 halftime advantage.

— Brian O’Hara

• Pine View (Utah) 55, Shadow Ridge 12 — At Shadow Ridge, Nick Marinko passed for 237 yards and five touchdowns, and the Panthers rolled past the Mustangs.

Shadow Ridge’s Gabe Toney kept the game close in the first half, intercepting two passes and returning a kickoff 75 yards for a score.

Marinko connected with Robert Evans for a 13-yard touchdown early in the second half, and Pine View turned two consecutive Shadow Ridge turnovers into touchdowns to pull away.

Dias finished with seven receptions for 139 yards, and the Panthers limited Shadow Ridge to 138 total yards.

— Adam Berchin

• Fountain Valley 40, Foothill 10 — At Foothill, the Barons (1-0) had 13 plays of 15 yards or more, running up 522 yards of total offense, and overcame five turnovers to rout the Falcons.

Fountain Valley quarterback Bryse Blake shrugged off three second-half interceptions to complete 9 of 22 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns, each to Andre Mosley. Blake also ran for 69 yards and a touchdown.

Kyle Middlebrooks, who went untouched for an 82-yard touchdown on the Barons’ first offensive play, had 115 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries.

The Falcons (0-2), who led 7-6 in the second quarter, committed 12 penalties and had three turnovers.

Derek Muaava had eight carries for 52 yards and a touchdown for Foothill, and he also had an interception.

— Michael Dugan

• Dixie (Utah) 13, Coronado 0 — At Dixie, Nate Carter ran for a 6-yard touchdown in the second quarter and a 5-yard TD in the fourth as the Flyers (2-2) beat the Cougars.

Taylor Knowles caught four passes for 53 yards for Coronado (0-2).

• Boulder City 21, Mohave (Ariz.) 17 — At Boulder City, Kurt Thien had TD runs of 8 and 2 yards in the fourth quarter as the Eagles (1-1) came from behind.

Boulder City trailed 17-0 with three minutes to go in the third quarter before Jake Slater’s 11-yard TD run put the Eagles on the board.

Slater led all rushers with 98 yards on 17 carries, Thien had 70 yards on 12 carries.

• Faith Lutheran 28, Spring Creek 27 — At Spring Creek, David Speery had touchdown runs of 15, 10 and 2 yards, and Garrett Sherwood ran for a 20-yard TD for the Crusaders (2-0).

Sherwood led the Crusaders with 12 carries for 79 yards,

After Faith Lutheran took a 28-21 lead on Speery’s third TD, Spring Creek (1-1) scored to narrow the score to 28-27. But the Crusaders stopped Spring Creek’s 2-point conversion attempt with about four minutes left.

• The Meadows 12, La Jolla (Calif.) Country Day 7– At La Jolla, Calif., Graham Hilts tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jon Chino in the third quarter to help the visiting Mustangs improve to 2-0.

Hilts was 10 of 13 for 175 yards, including four completions for 94 yards to Chino.

Pat Kenny scored on a 5-yard run in the first quarter to give The Meadows a 6-0 lead.

Kenny finished with 15 carries for 61 yards for the Mustangs.