WEEKLY BLOG: 10/23/20

Balance and versatility were key for Sandra Day O'Connor in a 37-21 road victory at Shadow Ridge on Friday night that showed the depth of the team and what they are capable of achieving.

The Eagles came in averaging just over 200 yards passing and under 100 rushing. The return to health of their running back, Donavin Fontaine, helped even those numbers up. The senior totaled 158 yards on the ground, and earned much of that in the second half, along with a touchdown run.

O'Connor scored two passing touchdowns, but neither came from the arm of their starting quarterback, who played most of the game. The Eagles got a touchdown from their star receiver, JD Groff, who also threw for one in a gadget play.

The visitors from North Phoenix also scored twice on returns, one following a punt, which was brought back to the house by Daymian Stewart (who later caught a TD pass). The other runback came via the defense as Brevin Czosnyka scored on a pick-six.

The defense came up big as the Eagles limited a Shadow Ridge run game to just 111 yards, less than half of the 252 per game the Stallions were putting up.

It was the Eagles (2-2 overall, 1-0 6A Southwest Region) who struck first. O'Connor held the field position advantage throughout the game and after the defense forced a three-and-out, Shadow Ridge punted from its own 19. That's when Stewart scored the first of his two touchdowns.

"I just had a nice block on the edge and took it to the crib," Stewart said.

Shadow Ridge (3-1, 0-1) got the equalizer early in the second quarter when junior Seth Gallardo connected with a wide open Zachary Sutton across the middle on third-and-seven for a 50-yard touchdown play.

For the second week in a row, O'Connor used three different quarterbacks. However, each of the backups only attempted one pass. On fourth down, Jace Snyder-Christison spotted Groff over the middle. The pass was completed, Groff had some running room and turned it into a 35-yard touchdown.

"It was a slant," Groff said. "I've got to make a move on the guy and it's one-on-one."

Just 35 seconds later, the Eagles were in the end zone again. Csosnyka stepped in front of a pass and immediately took to the left sideline 30 yards for the interception return and a 21-7 halftime lead.

In the second quarter, Stallions running back Jacob Thurman left the game after a run. He returned for part of the second half. Shadow Ridge head coach Sean Hegarty said after the game that Thurman had suffered a dislocated shoulder. It was popped back in so he could continue, but will have to be looked at further to determine the severity of the injury. Thurman had three consecutive 100-yard rushing games for SRHS during their 3-0 start.

A field goal from Christian Makanoeich provided the only scoring of the third quarter. It followed a fumble recovery by junior safety Jaden Jacobi.

Long kickoffs and excellent coverage by the O'Connor special teams unit during both kicks and punts provided long fields for the Stallions all night. Shadow Ridge had 13 possessions in the game and all of them started inside of its own 30-yard line. The average start position was the 20-yard line.

"Christian did a great job of kicking the ball deep," O'Connor head coach Steve Casey said. "We changed our cover team and put more of our defensive starters on it."

One of the standouts for Shadow Ridge was junior cornerback/wide receiver Isaac Yates. The 6-1 athlete intercepted a pass and scored the first of his two touchdowns by getting a step on his defender as he ran along the left sideline and made the catch shortly after crossing over the goal line. Yates finished with 203 yards on 10 catches.

But 10 points was as close as the Stallions would get. Fontaine rushed for 133 yards in the season debut for SDOHS, but has been dinged up with a bone bruise the past two games. In this one, he kept the clock and the chains moving in the fourth quarter. That got the Eagles close and a trick play got them in.

Quarterback Seth Felts handed the ball off to Groff, who wound up and threw a pass to the tall (6-2) receiver Stewart, who outleaped the defender for a 13-yard touchdown. It was a play that was just put in this week.

"JD, our receiver, gave me a good ball," Stewart said. "Gave me an advantage to go get up and show my height and catch the ball."

Fontaine had one touchdown called back, but later scored on a 25-yard TD run to finish with 158 yards on his 21 carries.

"It was nice seeing him healthy," Casey said of Fontaine. "It does add a dimension that we haven't been able to do for the last two weeks. Tough kid that runs really hard."

There was no quit in the Stallions, despite being limited in the run game. Sophomore Kaden Zordani played the last two series and led Shadow Ridge on a scoring drive with four straight completions. The last of those was a 55-yard strike to Yates. The combination of Gallardo and Zordani amounted to 360 passing yards.

Shadow Ridge, which started 3-0 for the first time since 2013, has shown remarkable progress. The Stallions' wins included East Valley schools Basha and Mountain Pointe. Hegarty is also in his first year with the school as he was hired in January after serving as the offensive coordinator at Ironwood. With no spring ball or summer 7-on-7's, the transition hasn't been a normal one for the players to get accustomed to the new staff. Yet, Shadow Ridge has been able to persevere. The Stallions will play their first road game next Friday at Dobson (2-2).

O'Connor will try to carry its momentum into a home game against Boulder Creek (3-1) next Friday. The Eagles may have stuffed the Stallions' run game, but the Jaguars will bring the talent of Jacob Cisneros, who has piled up the touchdowns in 2020.

First Quarter:
SDO - Daymian Stewart 59 yard punt return (Makanoeich kick), 0:15
Second Quarter:
SR - Zachary Sutton 50 yard pass from Seth Gallardo (Aiden Volkman kick), 8:57
SDO - James Groff 35 yard pass from Jace Snyder-Christison (Makanoeich kick), 6:58
SDO - Brevin Czosnyka 30 yard interception return (Makanoeich kick), 6:23
Third Quarter:
SDO - Makanoeich 27 yard FG, 4:46
Fourth Quarter:
SR - Isaac Yates 18 yard pass from Gallardo (Volkman kick), 11:50
SDO - Stewart 13 yard pass from Groff (Makanoeich kick), 4:52
SDO - Donavin Fontaine 25 yard run (kick blocked), 2:41
SR - Yates 55 yard pass from Kaden Zordani (Volkman kick), 1:04