Marcel Johnson a leader for Jaguars

Adam Candee

Monday, Nov. 18, 2002 | 9:36 a.m.

Friday's prep football games

Sunrise Region Championship

Desert Pines at Las Vegas, 7 p.m.

Sunset Region Championship

Palo Verde at Cheyenne, 7 p.m.

Last week's scores

Desert Pines 35, Foothill 28

Las Vegas 44, Basic 6

Palo Verde 34, Centennial 28 (2OT)

Cheyenne 21, Cimarron-Memorial 19

You would not guess it by his baby face and braces, but diminutive Desert Pines quarterback Marcel Johnson relishes the role of assassin that he played so well Friday in avenging last year's Sunset Region semifinal loss to Foothill.

Sure, the sun still rises and sets on tailback Cornell Johnson at Desert Pines. But the two biggest plays made by the Jaguars in their 35-28 win over the Falcons bore the juking, shifting, strong-armed stamp of Marcel Johnson.

In a wild game in which Foothill scored on both a blocked punt and a fake punt, the momentum shifter came on an untimed down at the end of the first half.

Foothill, after scoring a huge touchdown with 10 seconds left in the half, allowed a long kickoff return and then took a face mask penalty on the next play to give the Jaguars one more chance. That gave Marcel Johnson another shot to get out of the pocket and use his elusiveness to change the game.

"I tried to roll out and buy some time and I just waited for a receiver to cross my face," the quarterback said.

Under pressure, he fired a pass across his body to Patrick Stoldorf, who found the end zone to stun Foothill and tie the game.

The Jaguars showed some killer instinct by scoring two third-quarter touchdowns to stagger the Falcons. After Cornell Johnson raced off the left edge for a 41-yard score, Desert Pines picked off Foothill QB Josh Daneshforooz -- a good player who struggled through a four-turnover night -- to set up Desert Pines at the Falcons' 13-yard line.

Marcel Johnson made the call of the night on the next play.

"I told coach that if we bootleg away, I can get to the edge," Marcel Johnson said.

Get to the edge, he did. Foothill not only bit, but chewed and swallowed on the play fake to Cornell Johnson, allowing Marcel Johnson to spring out to the right for the touchdown that gave Desert Pines the cushion it needed.

The powerful and agile running of Cornell Johnson strikes fear into opposing defenses, but not even the best of backs will consistently succeed against stacked fronts. That is where Marcel Johnson's innate playmaking ability comes in and makes the Jaguars so formidable.

"He's a mobile quarterback and he's able to ad-lib on the run," Desert Pines coach Leon Evans said. "He's huge for us."

So once again the Jaguars will face off against Las Vegas with a lot on the line. Only the winner of Friday's game will make the state playoffs. The loser goes home, no matter how great its season has been.

Work? Thrive is more like it. Three weeks later, the Panthers have qualified for the 4A state playoffs on the strength of 145 points -- 72 to qualify for the playoffs against Mojave, 39 in a first-round rout of Durango and 34 to upset unbeaten Centennial in the region semifinals in double overtime.

For as solid as this Palo Verde team is, make no mistake that knocking off the Bulldogs on their own field is a notable upset, if only because Centennial held the Panthers to just three points in winning their regular season meeting.

Cheyenne, which bested Cimarron-Memorial to qualify for state Friday, and Palo Verde played a 7-6 thriller earlier this year, and the rematch promises just as much drama.

Interestingly, though, there is no real prize for winning the Sunset Region championship this season -- the Sunset winner must travel north for a likely date with McQueen in the state semifinals, while the loser stays in the Valley to play Las Vegas or Desert Pines.