Adams lifts Spring Valley over Bonanza

By Christopher Drexel (contact)

Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008 | 2:30 a.m.

Bonanza running back Antonio Beals entered Friday night as Southern Nevada’s leading rusher. But it was his counterpart, Jacques Adams of Spring Valley, who made the case as the area’s top rusher.

Adams rushed for a game-high 221 yards on 21 carries and two touchdowns while his Grizzlies rolled to a 35-7 win against the visiting Bengals. Meanwhile, Beals was held to just 20 yards on 13 carries.

After the win, Adams said showing up Beals wasn’t necessarily on his mind.

“I just knew our defense would stop him and he wouldn’t get anything,” said Adams, who downplayed his own stat line. “Our line came out and was making all their blocks.”

Spring Valley coach Kelly Murphy said stopping Beals was a key to his team’s game plan. Beals entered with 1,436 yards in eight games, but was held to 3 yards or less on 12 of his 13 carries.

“He’s a good back, but our kids were up to the challenge,” Spring Valley coach Kelly Murphy said. “Our kids were aggressive, they hit hard, and that’s what we needed to see.”

Adams began the scoring with a 29-yard touchdown run less than a minute into the second quarter. On Spring Valley’s next series, T.J. Allen capped a 65-yard drive with a 4-yard run of his own.

Bonanza went to the air on its next series and gained its initial two first downs of the game on passes from quarterback Sterling Sprau. Then a 15-yard run by Aaron Simon with a minute left before the half cut the Bengals’ deficit to one score.

That was as close as it would get.

Spring Valley scored on the last play of the first half on a 30-yard touchdown pass from Anton Stallworth to Jeff Fajardo for a 20-7 lead.

“Give credit to Spring Valley because they came out and played from the opening snap and offensively, we didn’t,” Bonanza coach Shawn Dupris said. “Our defense played well in the first quarter but they were on the field too long and offensively we didn’t take care of business.”

Spring Valley added to its lead with a minute remaining in the third quarter on a 12-yard scoring pass from Stallworth to Keenan Sanders.

Adams put an exclamation point on the victory with 51-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

“Jacques has been running the ball like that every single week,” Murphy said. “The biggest thing today was the offensive line did its job, the receivers blocked down field and we had good fakes all the way around. We just executed well. It was a great win.”

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