Arbor View crushes Green Valley in playoff opener

Arbor View coach Matt Gerber said his players “weren’t ready for the moment” when they were beaten soundly by Bishop Gorman about a month ago.

They’ve met the moment since then, steamrolling opponents on the way to capturing the Class 5A Desert League’s second seed, including Thursday night’s 59-0 victory over Green Valley in the Southern Region quarterfinals.

Since losing 63-0 to Gorman on Sept 23, the Aggies have outscored their five opponents by a combined 253-16 with back-to-back shutouts.

“The kids felt embarrassed walking off that field 63-0,” Gerber said. “They’ve been on a mission to try to get something back from that and try to show everybody that certainly wasn’t indicative of the type of team we have. Our kids have been focused ever since, and they seem to be getting better each week.”

Arbor View (9-1) next plays at Liberty (7-3) on Nov. 4 in the region semifinals. The Patriots ended Arbor View’s season last year 30-8 in the playoffs. Liberty also won the regular-season meeting 42-14.

“In both games, we felt we were in it and then fell apart in the last five minutes each game,” Gerber said. “The scores don’t indicate the type of game we played against them. You talk about something we went into this offseason looking at. It’s been circled for us. The whole year, I’ve been stating we want to play Gorman twice. We know to play Gorman twice, we’ve got to beat Liberty.”

Against Green Valley (3-7), Arbor View took control early by going up 24-0 in the first quarter and 45-0 at halftime.

The Aggies used an aggressive defense in which Tanner Aitken and Hayden Hartner returned interceptions for touchdowns and Zurich Ashford recovered a fumble for a TD.

That complemented an offense in which four players scored touchdowns, including Amari Derby with two TDs receiving. Michael Kearns was efficient in completing 8 of 10 passes for 151 yards and three touchdowns.

Coronado 51, Sunrise Mountain 0 — At Coronado, the Cougars are getting players back from injury and academic issues, and that’s bad news for the rest of Class 4A.

It certainly wasn’t great news for Sunrise Mountain (4-7), as Coronado (8-2) led 31-0 at halftime and cruised to its first easy victory since beating Mojave 41-0 on Sept. 30.

The Cougars also haven’t played the easiest schedule since then in losing to Shadow Ridge 28-21 and defeating Spring Valley 21-19 and Sierra Vista 12-7. All are playoff teams, with Shadow Ridge a No. 1 seed and Spring Valley and Sierra Vista winners in their first-round games.

Coronado next plays at Basic (8-2) on Nov. 4 in the state quarterfinals.

“When we look at Basic, they are in our opinion comparable to a Sierra Vista or a Spring Valley,” Coronado coach Fred Biletnikoff Jr. said. “Those were other two teams in our division that were neck and neck going down to the end of the season, and we pulled out close wins against those teams. I think that really help us serve as a wake-up call so we can go into a game like that and totally dominate our opponent.”

They got there largely thanks to Aiden Krause passing for 225 yards and three touchdowns. Mohammad Maali rushed for about 100 yards and two TDs.

Spring Valley 26, Cimarron-Memorial 0 — At Cimarron-Memorial, four players scored touchdowns to lead Spring Valley to its first-ever playoff victory.

The Grizzlies advanced in last year’s postseason because of a forfeit by Clark, but this is their first playoff win on the field.

“It means a lot to our program,” Spring Valley coach Marcus Teal said. “Last year, we had put our things away. We get a call saying we were still in. So we kind of put something together for a week and we got to play. This, actually getting a win … is a big boost for our guys and our seniors. I can’t say enough about what it means for them. They really earned this.”

Spring Valley (6-5) next plays at Las Vegas (7-2) on Nov. 4 in the 4A state quarterfinals. Cimarron’s season ended at 4-6.

Sierra Vista 35, Durango 29 — At Sierra Vista, the Mountain Lions scored a touchdown in overtime to advance to the 4A state quarterfinals.

Sierra Vista (7-4) plays at Silverado (9-0) on Nov. 4. Durango finished 5-5.

Desert Oasis 35, Clark 14 — At Desert Oasis, Myjuan Brown rushed for about 200 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Diamondbacks.

Desert Oasis (5-5) next plays at Shadow Ridge (9-1) in the 4A state quarterfinals on Nov. 4. Clark ended 4-7.

Virgin Valley 19, Eldorado 7 — At Virgin Valley, Gunner Cortez completed 9 of 12 passes for 110 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bulldogs.

Virgin Valley (8-2) plays SLAM Nevada (6-3) in the 3A South Region semifinals in Nov. 4 at Foothill High School. Eldorado’s season ended at 5-5.

Boulder City 32, Rancho 7 — At Boulder City, the Eagles slowly pulled away to advance to the 3A South Region semifinals.

Boulder City (8-2) visit Moapa Valley (10-0) on Nov. 4. Rancho’s season ended at 5-6.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.