Palo Verde romps

Bob Cloud

Thursday, Oct. 31, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The wind and rain did little to dampen a potent Palo Verde running game in the first football battle between the valley's two newest prep football teams Wednesday night.

Dave Delahuerta ran for 97 yards and a touchdown on just three carries, and Nicholas Cefalu added three scores, as Palo Verde ran past Mojave 32-3 in the freshman season finale for both teams at Cheyenne High School.

The Panthers rolled up 281 yards rushing on the night, while allowing a mere 62. Mojave was able to generate only 14 yards on the ground in the first half.

The two new schools competed this season at the ninth-grade level, and are scheduled to add junior varsity programs next year. With the victory, the Panthers finish their inaugural campaign 6-3, while the Rattlers posted a 3-6 mark.

"To me, 6-3 sounds a lot better that 5-4," Palo Verde coach Darwin Rost said. "That was the importance of this game. I'm real proud of the kids. They really improved over the year. We have talent on this team and kids who worked very hard.

"The kids really came on. We had a great week of practice and came out excited."

The game opened with a bang for Palo Verde, as Curtis Coleman took the opening kickoff and weaved 86 yards through Mojave defenders for the touchdown and a 6-0 lead. After the Rattlers got a 29-yard field goal from Tim Villaverde to cut the deficit to 6-3, Cefalu countered with a 25-yard score with 5:27 left in the opening quarter to put the Panthers up 12-3.

Cefalu got his second tally of the game on a two-yard run early in the second quarter, capping a 66-yard drive which featured a 37-yard burst by Delahuerta on a reverse. Quarterback Mitchell Grant ran in the two-point conversion for a 20-3 advantage.

The Panthers took a 26-3 lead to the half after Cefalu scored from six yards out with 3:11 remaining in the second quarter.

"We couldn't tackle, and that was our biggest problem," Mojave coach Mike Gutowski said. "They had a lot of long runs because we didn't tackle well, and that made a big difference in the game."

Delahuerta put the finishing touches on the game with a 52-yard touchdown on an inside trap play at the 3:53 mark of the third quarter.

Each team committed four turnovers. However, Palo Verde was able to turn Mojave's miscues into 18 points, compared to just three for the Rattlers. The Panthers ground out 11 first downs, while holding Mojave to only three.

"The kids played a good game," said Gutowski. "Palo Verde has some good athletes over there. Both teams fought hard."

The maiden season now behind them, both coaches said they were pleased with the progress shown by their respective teams. For Gutowski, the Rattlers achieved the goal he set before the start of the year -- to build the foundation for the future.

"The coaching staff worked their butts off," he said. "We feel we accomplished what we set out to do, which was teach the kids the game of football. I'm proud of the coaching staff and the kids for what we've done this year."