Shepherd powers Williams Field
Williams Field had three starters out with injuries on offense Friday and was still figuring out how good its defense really is after replacing nine starters from last year's championship team. It didn't matter. Junior quarterback Zack Shepherd threw a long touchdown pass and ran for a score on a draw, and secondranked Williams Field corralled Dez Melton enough to win the 5A game 13-0 at Glendale Deer Valley.
Williams Field (2-0) has yet to give up a point in its first two games.
"They players buy into the system and that's huge," coach Steve Campbell said. "I promise you this, there's not a better defensive staff than we have. They put a ton of time in. The key factor is the players who take that time in and spend time on the little details."
Deer Valley made no pretenses what it was going to do: line up in a power offense behind its big line, led by Joey Ramos, and hand the ball off to 6foot-4, 215-pound tailback Dez Melton.
Melton had 116 yards on 29 carries, after being held to 33 yards on 13 carries in the first half.
"We have our keys and we read our keys," Campbell said. "It's what does the scheme say we have to do. We don't do a ton of personnel keying, because when you do that you're susceptible to the big counter plays."
Standout performer
Zack Shepherd: His 62-yard TD pass to Noa Pola-Gates traveled at least 50 yards and hit Pola-Gates in stride over the secondary for a 7-0 lead with 8:49 left in the first half. Early in the final quarter, he found a seam up the middle and ran 14 yards for a 13-0 lead.
Another standout
Noa Pola-Gates: Because of a midweek injury to starting running back Jordan Neal, Pola-Gates was thrust into a running back role this week. Then, when running back J.C. Carroll suffered an injury early in the second quarter, Pola-Gates had to get even more involved offensively. Pola-Gates is being recruited by Division I colleges as a safety, but he showed off speed and moves on offense. He had a 22-yard pickup that led to Shepherd's rushing TD.
Star watch
Will Haskell Jr.: It's way too early to say, but when Deer Valley showed no passing game for most of the night, the freshman made his varsity debut at quarterback about five minutes left. His first pass was a 10-yard completion. He was then sacked for a 14-yard loss and threw a pass beyond the line of scrimmage. Still, it was easy to see why Deer Valley is excited about his future.
Quotes
"It came down to penalties," Deer Valley coach Eric Bolus said. "I think we had five false starts and four or five holding penalties. And there it was. That and the long pass when we didn't communicate to get the coverage right. We had a new corner out there. The free safety didn't communicate coverage. He thought he had inside help and he didn't."
"We were down on the offensive side of the ball (with injuries) but you've got to make do with what you've got," Shepherd.
Turning point
Deer Valley's offensive line finally dictated the trenches to open the second half, as the Skyhawks moved from their 2 to the Williams Field 13. But a holding penalty, followed by a false start caused the drive to stall. Deer Valley had the ball all but 45 seconds in the third quarter but came away with no points.
"They've got a huge, very talented offensive line," Campbell said. "But our whole defensive philosophy is, 'Bend but don't break. Run to the football, make sound tackles.' The defense did what we asked them to do."
Up next
Williams Field plays host to Glendale Ironwood on Sept. 1, while Deer Valley travels to play Glendale Mountain Ridge next Friday.