Cimarron rolls over Spring Valley, 35-14

By Christopher Drexel (contact)

Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008 | 1:55 a.m.

With a new coaching staff in place and a top running back transferring before the season began, Cimarron-Memorial had every excuse to write off 2008 as a rebuilding year.

But with the Sunset Regional quarterfinals in the rearview mirror, the Spartans now find themselves in the Sunset Region semifinals against Summerlin rival and Northwest Division top seed Palo Verde next Friday.

To get there, Cimarron dispatched of Spring Valley, 35-14, with surprising ease on the road Friday. The Spartans controlled the clock throughout the contest, racking up more than 300 yards of rushing.

“We were supposed to be the underdogs, but that’s OK,” said running back Zach Barbara, who rushed for 100 yards on 10 carries. “We pounded it to them. I thought it was going to be a good game the whole way, but we just kept on sticking it to them and they started dying out in the end.”

Cimarron marched down the field on its opening series, capping off a 54-yard, 6:21 drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Barbara. Spring Valley went three and out on its next possession, before Cimarron went on another extended drive that ended with a turnover on downs at the Spring Valley 24-yard line.

On the next play, Spring Valley running back Jacques Adams scored on a 76-yard run to make the game 7-6. But Cimarron went on another extended drive finished off with a 1-yard run from running back Stephen Nixon.

The Spartans entered halftime with a 14-6 advantage and forced Spring Valley to play on defense for the majority of the first half. Then in the third quarter, the floodgates opened for Cimarron’s offense. Nixon scored on runs of 68 and 15 yards before Barbara scored on 73-yard run to make the score 35-6 entering the fourth quarter.

“Any time you have the defense out there throughout the first two quarters, it’s going to hurt,” Spring Valley coach Kelly Murphy said. “Cimarron’s offense did what we should have done and that’s controlling the clock. The better football team won. Cimarron came out and was prepared and we made too many mistakes.”

Cimarron coach Rod Vollan said he wasn’t too surprised how far his team has come this season when many people didn’t give it a chance in August.

“We told the kids we’ll do our best as coaches to put them in a position to do what they do best,” Vollan said. “They bought into it and continued to work hard when things weren’t going well. And the result is what you’ve seen here at the end of the year.”

The coach added his team would be prepared for Palo Verde. Cimarron was the only team that lost to the undefeated Panthers by less than three touchdowns during the regular season. The Spartans were narrowly defeated by Palo Verde 17-14 in overtime on Oct. 3.

Nixon, who totaled 168 yards on 24 carries and three touchdowns against Spring Valley, said Cimarron is already excited for its rematch with the Panthers.

“We’re ready,” Nixon said. “It’s not going to be an overtime game next week. They’re the No. 1 team in the state, but we’re feeling good right now.”

Christopher Drexel can be reached at 990-8929 or christopher.drexel@hbcpub.com.