Sollenberger: Desert Vista cleans up in second half; Blue Ridge wins 15th straight

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Penalties, turnovers, missed assignments and mental mistakes defined the first half.

After getting that bit of ugliness out of the way, Desert Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.) showed glimpses of the team it believes it can be in the months to come.

In the end it was another win at University of Phoenix Stadium, this time knocking off Palo Verde (Las Vegas, Nev.) 20-10, in the Sollenberger Classic, nine months after winning the Arizona Division I state title in the building.

"It was really good and we got a trophy for winning the Sollenberger but it is just the first game of the season," Thunder center Cole Preston said. "It's just another football field. Last year is done and this year is what matter's now."

Desert Vista played nearly perfect in November to beat Hamilton for the state title.

This time? Not so much,

While this one was slightly less significant – considering the one in November brought home a state title – it still felt good.

Desert Vista entered the No. 50 team in the country, according to the MaxPreps Freeman rankings. Palo Verde was the No. 2 team in Nevada.

"They were a physical team and they were a little chirpy," senior wide receiver Kaleb Germinaro said. "We got the win, but it was first game jitters. Being on this big stage and being in Cardinals' stadium gets you fired up. It kind of got in our heads, but we will clean it up by next week."

The Thunder put the ball on the ground seven times – lost three of them – and had an interception through two and ½ quarters of play. Add in mental mistakes like fielding punts inside their own 10, getting personal and dead ball fouls and the fundamentals were scarce.

We have to get better and we made mistakes, but those are things we can fix," Desert Vista coach Dan Hinds said. "This will give us an opportunity to get better. They exploited a lot of things we need to work on."

The Thunder pulled it together in the second half and played similarly to the style of play that was so successful in 2011.
"They opened the second half with a nice scoring drive when Matt Young, who completed 12 passes in a row after throwing an interception on his first attempt, connected with Austin Hicks on a 47-yard pass play for a 14-10 lead.

"(Hicks) got behind coverage, made a great adjustment, caught the ball and scored," said Young, who finished 12 of 15 for 164 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Two drives later, aided by two dead ball fouls by Palo Verde, the Thunder pushed it to 20-10 when Zach Gonzalez scored from 1-yard out. The drive was done mostly on the ground as Desert Vista, which rushed for 164 yards (279 total yards), used its big offensive line to wear down Palo Verde to control not only the line of scrimmage but also the clock.

"We were really working well as an offensive line group," Preston said. "We knew we had to settle in and get the run established."

The game had some uneasiness to it as Palo Verde was flagged for 119 yards on 15 infractions while Desert Vista had nine for 68 yards. Palo Verde threw two interceptions and the Thunder had four turnovers.

There were several 15-yard penalties as the two teams got physical, verbal and physical again.

"We have to sharpen that up," Young said. "The second half we shut our mouths, they were jawing at us and pushing us. We will take our 15 yards every time."

The Thunder defense, which subbed liberally at the linebacker corps, did a solid job stopping the double Wing T other than when Lee Griggs (10 carries, 132 yards) broke free for a 71-yard touchdown in the second quarter to tie at 7 with 10:16 left in the second quarter.

Palo Verde showed signs of the explosiveness that allowed it to rush for more than 3,000 yards last season, but not in the third quarter when the Panthers were held to a total of minus-1 yards of offense.

"We got kind of tired in the second half," Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost said. "They are a physical team and we knew that coming in. They did a great job of getting to the ball and bringing down the runner. We can usually pop free a few more times."

Desert Vista defensive coordinator Greg Battle said it took some adjusting to the 11-man in the box offense but thought the Thunder defense held its own.

"One thing about that one long run," he said. "We were experimenting and we called that defense one time. One time only."

Much like this was only one victory, but it is a start.

"We got the win," Hinds said. "We will move on and learn from it."

Blue Ridge 23, Moapa Valley 14

Blue Ridge (Lakeside, Ariz.) coach Paul Moro passed on the first week of practice, deciding practicing in July was too early.

While the lack of reps, and a few injuries mixed in, didn't keep Blue Ridge from coming away with a win over Moapa Valley (Overton, Nev.) in the first game of the Sollenberger Classic doubleheader, it did leave Moro wanting more from the Yellow Jackets.

The win was Blue Ridge's 15th straight and 40th in 41 tries.

"I'm not satisfied and we made a lot of mistakes," he said. "We just tried to hang on."

A coach with 12 state titles has the right to demand of certain level of execution and he usually gets it from the players who grew up wanting nothing more than to play for Blue Ridge.

One of those players getting his chance was senior Ben Watson, who got little offensive exposure last year, but hauled in a 70 yard pass from Skyler Hill to opening the scoring.

After Moapa Valley took the lead 8-7 in the second quarter, Watson returned an interception 34 yards for a score with 7 minutes remaining before halftime for a lead the Yellow Jackets never gave up.

"Walker Lee tipped it and I came down with it," Watson said. "My guys blocked for me and I was able to take it all the way back. It was a great feeling to do that in a place like this."

Moapa Valley, which knocked off Show Low in last year's Sollenberger, was unable to get much going against the Blue Ridge defense, which was led by Easton Wengert and Chans Cox. The Pirates finished with 191 total yards and rarely crossed the Blue Ridge 40.

Moapa Valley senior Sean McConnell was able to return a punt 40 yards for a score on the last play of the game to close the gap. Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic and current Ahwatukee Foothills News staff writer, is an 18-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.