After victimizing opposing defenses for weeks, Sunnyside's Manny Vera finally ran into a team that refused to let him through.
Ironwood Ridge put its foot down on Southern Arizona's leading rusher, holding Vera to 78 yards and without a touchdown during a 39-13 home win over the Blue Devils on Friday.
"We knew he was a great runner, squirmy, shifty, can get through holes easily," safety Mitch Fischer said. "Plus, he has great vision.
"We stepped up big."
Vera was held to 31 yards on eight carries in the first half. Drive after drive stalled for Sunnyside, and Ironwood Ridge overcame a slow start to pull away before halftime.
Starting with 3:48 left in the first quarter, the Nighthawks (6-3, 4-1 5A Southern) scored on four consecutive drives over an 11-minute span to open up a 25-6 lead at the break.
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Ironwood Ridge's offense showed a little bit of everything. Quarterback Tyler D'Amore had touchdown passes in the first quarter to his two favorite targets, Austin Ballard and Trevor Wesley.
Then, Fischer got things going on the ground in the second quarter. He followed up a 34-yard pass from D'Amore to Wesley with a 31-yard run to put the Nighthawks up 18-6.
He then followed up a 17-yard pass from D'Amore to Ballard with a 4-yard blast, four minutes before halftime.
"We just started picking them apart there and then it opened everything up and we started rolling," D'Amore said.
D'Amore finished 19 for 28 for 251 yards and three scores, but not before a shaky start.
He threw a pick to Sunnyside's Dominic Martinez on the opening drive of the game, which set up a Blue Devils touchdown on the next play.
Sunnyside quarterback Andy Cota threw over the middle to Steven Corral for a 13-yard touchdown and a 6-0 lead.
D'Amore goofed again when he botched a hand-off to running back Gabe Campa on the Nighthawks' second drive. Sunnyside (5-3, 3-1) recovered the fumble, once again in Ironwood Ridge territory.
"That's on myself," D'Amore said. "Those two turnovers were my fault. I threw it inside; he went outside. Then, that fumble."
D'Amore said he practiced just two days this past week because of an infection to his right elbow. The lack of practice led to his inaccuracies, he believed.
Ironwood Ridge coach Matt Johnson said that once his team got past the initial hiccup, he was impressed with the performance.
"We've got some hardworking kids with some talent and when we put it all together, we're pretty dangerous," Johnson said.
