Las Vegas Sun

March 18, 2024

Cheyenne routs Arbor View with running game

Cheyenne shuts out Arbor View

Kyle B. Hansen

Cheyenne’s Marcus Sullivan gets ready to pass the ball to Jordan Butler during Friday’s game against Arbor View.

Cheyenne shuts out Arbor View

Cheyenne's Kaeo Helekahi (12) runs the ball while Ronnie Green (11) blocks for him. Launch slideshow »

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Cheyenne and Arbor View's football teams use similar, run-oriented offenses based on the double-wing formation.

Friday night when the two faced off, Cheyenne just ran it much, much better.

The Desert Shields scored on all eight possessions, racking up 562 yards of total offense and rolling to a 57-0 smashing of the Aggies.

"I think it was just good preparation on our part with the kids and some luck involved," Cheyenne coach Charles Anthony said of the route. "Arbor View looks pretty good on film and they play hard. I guess our guys really responded because they saw how they played against Palo Verde and against some other teams and they knew it was going to be a tough game."

Running back Marcus Sullivan made it look easy, accounting for more total yards alone (239) than the Aggies combined (100).

The junior had 130 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, and caught two passes for 67 yards and another score. Taking over at quarterback for a couple of series in the third quarter he added 42 yards on one-of-two passing, just missing a fifth touchdown when Khyriece Campbell was tackled at the 1 yard line after catching the pass.

"He's very talented," Anthony said of Sullivan. "Actually, we wanted him to play quarterback this year, but he wanted to play running back."

Sullivan did most of his work on the ground, rushing 14 times and scoring on runs of 1, 3 and 39 yards. His first touchdown was through the air, though, catching a 29-yard pass from Kaeo Helekahi midway through the first period that began the rout.

Cheyenne (8-1 overall, 5-1 Sunset Northwest) never needed to punt, picking up 16 first downs and reaching fourth down just once.

Of course, that down ended up in a 70-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Chris Spencer to Jordan Butler, who slipped behind two defenders and gave the Desert Shields a 32-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Spencer finished two-of-two passing for 69 yards, combining with Helekahi (two-for-two, 67 yards, one touchdown) and Sullivan for efficient and productive quarterback play for Cheyenne. Two competent quarterbacks is a luxury most teams don't have, let alone an athlete like Sullivan as an emergency signal-caller.

"I'm kind of taking it from back two years ago when our starting quarterback went down and we didn't have a backup quarterback," Anthony said, "so I like the two-headed monster we have. It's just good to have those guys."

The Desert Shields didn't need much out of any of the three signal callers against the Aggies, though, dominating the game via the run. Along with Sullivan's 130 yards, Butler added 58 rushing yards, Donnel Thompson carried six times for 89 yards, and Ronnie Green had 81 rushing yards on two carries. Andrew Calhoun added 10 yards and two touchdowns, and Terence Brison had 16 yards and one score.

Taylor Wooten led Arbor View with 33 yards on 16 carries, and quarterback Austin Anderson had two rushes for 25 yards while going two-of-nine passing for minus-9 yards and an interception.

Cheyenne will play host to Cimarron-Memorial (6-3, 5-1) on Thursday in the "Duel in the Desert" game with second place in the Sunset Northwest on the line.

"It's a big game," Sullivan said. "We have to come strong like we did this week. Keep working hard in practice. That's the main thing"

Arbor View will finish its season at home against Shadow Ridge (2-7, 1-5).

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