YC
before the Shamrocks rattled off 33 unanswered points in the final three quarters.
Yuma Catholic senior quarterback James Stover’s first pass of the night was intercepted by Trey Brooks, setting up a short field for Casteel. On fourthand-5 from the 16-yard line, Casteel quarterback Gunner Cruz found receiver Zach Nelson in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.
That would be the last time Casteel would have the ball in the red zone.
The Shamrocks tied the game in the second quarter, when sophomore JR Henderson — who filled in temporarily when Stover was sidelined for a few plays — hit senior running back Jaylen Barnes on a rollout to his left for a touchdown.
Kicker Fabian Ramirez’s 30-yard field goal made it 10-7 with one minute to go in the half.
Friday was Stover’s first full game after he suffered a knee injury in the first week of the season. He missed a month and returned last week at Northwest Christian.
“I was a little nervous at first, but I knew the guys had my back,” Stover said. “The offensive line played outstanding tonight. When we had time to pass, I had plenty of time; I didn’t really get touched. When we ran, we ran 10 yards a pop. It was a good offensive performance for us, and defensively, too.”
Stover was not needed to do a whole lot, especially in the second half when the Shamrocks almost exclusively ran the ball. He went 9-for-17 for 83 yards.
Yuma Catholic opened the second half with the best drive of the night: 12 plays, 67 yards, ending with an 8-yard touchdown run for Barnes. Barnes would go on to score two more touchdowns in the half, making a total of four in the game, and had 122 yards on 19 carries.
“When you have a back like Jaylen, you know you can give the ball to him and he can do anything with it,” Stover said. “He’s a threat to score on every play.”
The Shamrocks had 158 rushing yards in the second half. Adam Castaneda and Harrison Long both hit at least 30 yards on the ground. Of the 33 plays in the final two quarters, 30 were runs.
“Honestly, at halftime, our adjustment was we were going to start throwing the ball a little bit more,” Cheatwood said. “We found some mismatches in certain formations where it was just silly that we didn’t see it earlier. So we were planning on coming out and throwing the ball more, but when we run a safe play and we get 5 yards a carry, why stop doing what you’re doing because you’re going to drive down the field?”
It was the biggest offensive output this season for the Shamrocks, whose previous season-high in points was 26. The defense remained as solid as ever.
Yuma Catholic allowed just 93 yards in the game, and only 19 in the second half thanks to five sacks. Senior defensive end Daniel Callendar had 4.5 on his own.
“When they stop the run, it opens me up because that’s when I’m able to get to the quarterback,” Callendar said. “When we have me, Richard (Molina), Blake (Sandoval) and Harrison (Long) on the line, we’re all pass-rushers. We can get to the quarterback. That’s a powerful line. Once we stop the run, it just opens it all up.”
The Shamrocks will be back at home Friday for another region game, this time against ASU Prep at 7 p.m.