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Lightning strikes
Las Vegas Sun's Ray Brewer and Case Keefer discuss a weather-shortened week 3 of high school football, focusing on the handful of games that were actually played.
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The initial two weeks of the season have followed a similar script for the Arbor View High football team: Get out to a big lead, put in the second- and third-string players, and cruise to a running-clock win.
That wasn’t the case Friday in the Northwest League opener against Faith Lutheran. The Aggies surrendered a touchdown less than a minute into the game and trailed at halftime. They were committing turnovers and penalties — two characteristics uncommon of the perennial power.
But they found a way to win in the second half. The hard-fought 27-24 victory keeps Arbor View undefeated in league games dating back to 2013 and, more important, provides plenty of teachable moments for the rest of the season.
“In the first half, we started off slow. I don’t know what was going on,” said Deago Stubbs, the Arbor View senior who finished with two touchdowns. “In the second half we made some adjustments in the locker room and came out with more fire. We were used to blowing teams out each week. Now we know it won’t be like that.”
Arbor View rushed for more than 300 yards, including second-half scores from Stubbs and Jaquari Hannie. And while Faith Lutheran’s high-powered passing attack amassed 214 yards, quarterback Sagan Gronauer completed just nine passes in dealing with the tough Arbor View pass rush.
Isaiah Herron, Arbor View’s defensive back standout, was sidelined for most of the game. Instead, the Aggies relied on two juniors and a sophomore in the secondary, and those players were key. Elijah Kothe, Faith Lutheran’s top offensive threat, didn’t catch a pass.
“That shows our depth,” Arbor View coach Dan Barnson said.
Faith Lutheran went right down the field with little resistance on its initial two drives and led 9-0. It was the first time Arbor View had trailed all season. The teams went back-and-forth the rest of the night, including Gronauer hooking up with Dalton Kincaid for a short touchdown pass with 51 seconds to play.
But Faith Lutheran’s onside kick was unsuccessful and Hannie muscled his way to a first down in the final seconds to run out the clock. Faith Lutheran falls to 0-3 overall — it had halftime leads in all three games.
“Both teams are going to wake up tomorrow and say, ‘Wow that was physical,’” Barnson said. “They played great; we played great.”
Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21