Cimarron hopes to put ugly loss to PV out of mind

Adam Candee

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2003 | 10:44 a.m.

They both spent the weekend curled up with the same videotape, but Darwin Rost and Ron Smeltzer watched distinctly different films from a late September evening.

Rost watched the feel-good hit of the year as his Palo Verde squad rolled up nearly 400 offensive yards against Cimarron-Memorial, a traditionally strong defense. Smeltzer saw a horror flick as his Spartans gave up 55 points to the Panthers to open Northwest Division play.

By Monday, neither coach expected Friday night's Sunset Region semifinal at Palo Verde to look anything like its precursor.

"We teach the kids that everyone's 0-and-0 now," Rost said of the playoffs.

Palo Verde (NW-1, 10-0) is one of two remaining undefeated teams in the Valley along with Las Vegas. The Panthers started a rather uneventful roll to the Northwest title with the 55-21 rout of the Spartans (NW-3, 7-3).

"It was execution," Rost said of the key to the victory. "I thought we really executed well. We were blocking the right guy, and we got off the ball and got into them. We really didn't do anything fancy. We didn't do any trick things."

The Panthers needed no tricks as their usual method of using a bruising running game out of their unorthodox double-wing offense worked to perfection. Smeltzer made no excuse for his defense's worst showing of the season.

"We didn't read some keys and we kind of overpursued," Smeltzer said of Cimarron's struggles.

Hoping to find a sorely needed remedy in depth, Smeltzer looks forward to utilizing a number of players who returned from injury after the first matchup with Palo Verde.

"We're going to be healthy, so that's going to be a big plus for us," Smeltzer said.

Palo Verde cannot say the same. Injured standout running back Jamal Brumfield will miss his second consecutive playoff game, with Marc Evans taking his place. Evans had little trouble stepping into the Panthers' 42-14 win against Bonanza to open the Sunset playoffs, scoring four touchdowns to lead the way.

"Marc Evans stepped it up for us," Rost said. "As long as he's playing, he's really going to help us."

Just as they did from last year to this year, the Panthers seem to find offense from whichever running back steps into the double-wing's labyrinth of traps and dives. That is just part of Smeltzer's biggest worry in this rematch.

"The big thing with Palo Verde is you've got to try to keep their offense off the field," Smeltzer said.

By doing so, Smeltzer wants to give quarterback Dylan Hinton and the Cimarron offense more opportunities to attack Palo Verde. The Spartans' offense made some strides against the Panthers, only to have defensive and special teams lapses give away the game.

"We did score 21 points on them, which not a lot of people have been doing," Smeltzer said. "I think we've got some hope there."

In the 2002 meeting of the Panthers and Spartans, Palo Verde scored only a fourth-quarter safety and still won, 2-0.