Turner Klingenmeier's foot lifts Desert Pines over Centennial
In a battle between Nevada title contenders, it came down to a field goal by Turner Klingenmeier to seal the deal allowing the Desert Pines Jaguars to open the season with a win over the Centennial Bulldogs.
With the #3 and #4 quarterbacks in the state battling it out on the field, it came down to containing the Jaguars explosive running back Isaiah Morris in the first quarter that set the tone of the game as he opened scoring with a 59-yard cutback run to open a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
The Bulldogs would march into the end zone to tie the game on the next possession with a 34-yard pass from Jamaal Evans to Bryce Hampton but it wouldn’t stay tied for long.
On the next possession it took just 42-seconds before Morris would break loose again scoring from 52-yards out. With the Bulldogs unsettled on defense, the Jaguars would close the first quarter with 21-yard toss from Marckell Grayson to Antonio Wallace to take a 21-7 lead into the second quarter.
The Bulldogs would settle down from there as Evans showed a steady hand leading his team to the next two scores with a 26-yard field goal by Michael Neubeck followed by a 81-yard over the shoulder flick to Rodney Pitts in the seam to close the gap to just 21-17 in favor of the Jaguars.
Needing a play to maintain momentum closing in on halftime, Grayson would use a pump fake to set up a wide open Jordan Simon from 37-yards out to give his team a 27-17 cushion.
With just 1:10 left in the quarter, Evans would use to short field position to drive his team into position for a quarter closing 30-yard Neubeck field goal to keep his team within a score down 27-20.
Going higher tempo on the first possession of the second half, Evans would control the field as the Bulldogs quarterback would eventually slip into the endzone on a 3-yard run to tie the game at 27-27 early in the 3rd quarter.
The teams would trade scores the rest of the quarter when Grayson and Evans adding passing touchdown before running back Andrew Gray added a 7-yard run to close the third quarter with Desert Pines up 41-34.
Evans would come back with a steady drive moving the Bulldogs into scoring position before adding another 3-yard run to tie the score at 41-41 with just 5:23 left in the game.
That when another big Morris run would set his team up for the winning score as he added a 33-yard run to the 5-yard line with under 4 minutes left in the game. The Bulldog defense would stiffen to keep the Jaguars out of the end zone but the Klingenmeier 25-yard field goal would push the score to 44-41.
With 1:30 to play, the Jags would see Tony Fields come up with a huge sack on the second play on the Bulldogs final possession. Receiver Savon Scaver would add a scare nearly getting around the edge on fourth down but the Bulldogs would be forced to turn the ball over on downs ending the contest.
Morris finished the game with 208-yard rushing while Grayson totalled 264-yards with 3 passing touchdown.
For the Bulldogs, Evans passed for 328-yards and added another 78-yards rushing with 5-total scores. Running back Kayvon Miller added 87-yards tough yards on the group with Scarver logging 8-receptions for 92-yards in the contest.