Coyotes eliminate Raiders
PEORIA - The glimpses of greatness were there for Cibola in their 5A-II first-round playoff game.
Three-time defending state champion Centennial showed much more than glimpses.
Special team plays led to the Coyotes' first two scores and No. 1 Centennial and its defense rolled from there in a 48-14 win over the Raiders at Centennial Field.
"Centennial is an exceptional team, but our guys left it all out on the field like I expected them to," Raider coach Lucky Arvizo said. "They worked hard. We had some big plays at the beginning of the game ... but I think overall I'm very proud of these guys. They had a great season."
The Coyotes, ranked as high as No. 4 in national polls and winners of 37 straight, held Gila Valley Region player of the year Roy Thompson to 3 yards on three carries on the Raiders' first possession. That forced the GVR champs into an early punt that Julien Singleton got a hand on, then Gary Ross picked up at the Cibola 42 and ran in untouched for the score.
"I give it all to my blockers. They gave me the blocks that got me to the house," Ross said. "I trust my blockers and then run to touchdown, run to touchdown as fast as I can. It was the first touchdown, it was real big for us. We just kept on playing."
After another quick drive Cibola (5-6) gave the ball back to the Coyotes (12-0) but shut down their potent offense and forced a punt. But Cody Pletch fumbled the punt, Tymer Nahrgang recovered, and on the first play quarterback Dain McFarland found Ross open on a 34-yard post play for a 14-0 lead.
The Raiders at times got to McFarland, who is being recruited by Division I schools. Austin Olaiz had an interception of him in the second quarter - just the sixth pick McFarland's thrown this year - and two possessions later Ted Morgan forced him to fumble. That fumble was picked up, however, by Matt Baugh and ran in 27 yards for a Coyote score, padding the lead to 28-0.
"Obviously against a team like this you have to play a perfect game and you can't make those types of mistakes," Arvizo said. "We gave up the big play on the punt, and also the big play on the fumble just before the half. ... Obviously that didn't turn out the way we wanted to, but things happen."
Once the Coyotes' second-team came in with the running clock in effect thanks to a 48-0 Coyote lead, Thompson broke off a 54-yard touchdown run to break the 100-yard mark, finishing with 158 yards on 38 carries, including 32 carries for 64 yards against the Centennial starters.
"Roy running as hard as he did against this kind of defense to get the yardage he did shows how hard he worked and how the offensive line was able to make little seams, anyway," Arvizo said. "It was tough running, tough yards he got."
The Raiders' best drive against Centennial's first-team came in the third quarter in which they converted two fourth downs and lasted 12 plays, but went 20 yards.
On the next Centennial drive, Cibola linebacker Kyle Heredia was injured as the game stopped for 20 minutes waiting for paramedics to arrive and take Heredia off the field on a stretcher. Arivzo said it was a concussion and Heredia was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
Cibola finished with 193 yards of total offense. Their final touchdown came on a 32-yard pass from Dylan Arviso to Steve Noel. Centennial had 381 yards of offense, including 198 on 11-of-17 passing by McFarland, who threw two touchdowns. The Coyotes added 170 on the ground, including 92 on six carries by Anthony Hughes, who led the team in yards and carries in the game. In all, eight Coyotes had at least one rush and four had a score.
There were 19 penalties in the game, 12 on Centennial for 132 yards.
"Overall, I think we did decent," Arvizo said. "We gave up the big plays and that didn't work out as well as we wanted it to, but they're a very good team and they're going to get those opportunities because they're very fast, very quick and very well coached."
The Coyotes beat fellow GVR team Kofa 48-6 last year to begin their run through the state playoffs.
