FitzSimmons shines as lead running back

Central Valley star runs by Avonworth

Bret FitzSimmons has shown a lot of patience throughout his career.

But most of it was spent watching on the Central Valley sideline and waiting for his opportunity.

“He was ready to take over last year,” Central Valley coach Mark Lyons said. “Unfortunately, he had a pretty good running back in front of him in Landon Alexander, who’s at Albany.”

Now that he’s the featured back in the Warriors attack, FitzSimmons is showing just how much his patience has paid off.

The senior shredded the Avonworth defense with 10 carries for 212 yards and four touchdowns — including a back- breaking 80yarder in the third quarter on the first play after the Antelopes’ first touchdown — as Class 4A No. 3-ranked Central Valley (2-0) rolled to a 37-22 win over the Class 3A No. 3 Antelopes for its 29th consecutive victory.

“When he was a junior, he didn’t waste any reps and you saw little flashes from him,” Lyons said. “Now that he’s carrying the load, he’s really taken care of his body, he’s stronger, quicker and there’s nobody questioning what Bret FitzSimmons can do.”

In his first two games, FitzSimmons, has made the most of his chances. He has 17 carries for 320 yards and seven touchdowns.

To put that into perspective, he has scored a touchdown on 41.2 percent of his carries.

“That is pretty cool,” Lyons said. “He’s just nifty and crafty and kind of reads everything. He runs with his eyes so well.”

To be fair, Avonworth did not go quietly. In fact, the Antelopes pretty much pushed Central Valley all over the field on their first drive of the game.

They took the opening kickoff and ripped off 16 plays on a possession that took the first 8:17 off the clock.

But in what became a theme throughout the night for Avonworth, it couldn’t finish, as quarterback Nate Harper’s pass to the end zone on fourth-and-8 from the Warriors 9 went awry and Central Valley took over on downs.

It was the first of three occasions on its first four possessions in which Avonworth turned the ball over on downs.

“You play a really good team, they make great plays,” Avonworth coach Duke Johncour said. “We drove the ball right down the field and we didn’t capitalize. I wish we had a couple of those drives back and couple of those missed tackles back”

That stop on the Antelopes opening drive appeared to energize the Warriors as they came out and took it to the Avonworth defense. They quickly moved it out of the shadow of their goalpost and, on what appeared to be a broken play in the backfield on a third-and1, quarterback Antwon Johnson lofted a pass down the right sideline to a wideopen Jayvon Thompson for a 60-yard touchdown to give Central Valley a 7-0 lead with 1:40 left in the first quarter.

Johnson finished the game 8 of 12 for 160 yards and a touchdown, but it was obvious Thompson was his favorite target. He caught five balls for 127 yards and the lone score.

“We’ve just got to make sure we get some other guys joining him a little bit,” Lyons said. “He’s a matchup problem. There’s no question. And if you’re going to single him up, then we’re going to take a shot.”

From there it was FitzSimmons’ turn to take over. After only two carries for 15 yards in the first quarter, he got rolling in the second with five carries for 116 yards and three touchdowns, which helped Central Valley build a 30-0 halftime lead.

Avonworth got back into the game with a touchdown on its first second half possession when Harper, who finished 20 for 32 for 190 yards and two touchdowns, hit running back Brandon Biagiarelli for a score.

But FitzSimmons put it away on the first play after the kickoff with an 80-yard touchdown run that gave the Warriors an insurmountable 37-7 lead.

“Their line is big up front, which is why they’ve been to the state championship game [in Class 3A] three years in a row,” Johncour said. “We played hard, fought hard and just ended up on the short end of the stick.”