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| Verrado's Johnny Johnson goes airborne while returning a kick during Verrado's 45-27 victory over Shadow Ridge. |
The Vipers jumped into the lead handily during the first half of the game by scoring 14 points in the first quarter and 21 points in the 2nd quarter.
Verrado’s first score came on a 5-yard pass from Lathon Lax to Anthony Enriquez.
The Vipers scored again shortly afterward when Ja’Tai Jenkins returned a Stallion punt 83 yards down the left side for the touchdown.
In the second quarter the Viper scoring was done by players who have demonstrated they know how to find the end zone.
Ross Dietz scored twice—once on a 6-yard run, and again on a 65-yard run.
Verrado finished out the scoring during the second quarter with a 4-yard pass from Lax to Roehl.
After the halftime break the Stallions found their legs and managed to put some point on the board, but not before Verrado scored again when Lax found Xavier James over the middle for a 15 yard touchdown to make the score 42-0.
Shadow Ridge then followed with touchdown runs of 17, 11 and 22 yards to make the score 42-20.
Verrado place kicker Paden Goucher hit a 35-yard field goal to make the score 45-20.
The Stallions had one more answer for the Vipers, scoring on a 10-yard run with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
For the Vipers the win marked their seventh victory in their year of firsts—first time beating Buckeye; first time beating Agua Fria and first winning season.
Following the game Verrado head coach Derek Wahlstrom said he was happy with the teams effort after a week of preparation following the team’s loss to Desert Edge the previous week.
“I was real pleased with the kids’ focus on what what coming up,” Wahlstrom said. “I felt like we’d come out and play the way we did during the first half.”
With two winnable games to play during the regular season the Vipers stand to finish the season among state playoff contenders. The Div. III playoff picture is dominated by East Valley teams, but Verrado, Buckeye and Desert Edge at still in contention.
The prospect of a 9-1 season for the Vipers is very real, but Wahlstrom is hesitant to stray from his “1-0” philosophy of taking one game and one win at a time.
“9-1 is out there,” Wahlstrom said, “But you can’t be 9-1 without 8-1 so that means we’ve got to go 1-0.”
Div. III has seven sections. Each section winner will get an automatic bid to the 16 team playoff. The remaining nine teams will get at-large bids based on power rankings.
Verrado’s two remaining games are at Sierra Linda this Friday and at Kellis on Oct. 31.
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