It may have been clear skies Saturday morning but the thunder and lightning that was still brewing in Flowing Wells' backfield following Friday night's weather delay.
The Caballeros (3-0) finished off visiting Amphitheater 41-20 to match their combined win total from the last two seasons.
Flowing Wells, which has gone 3-17 over the last two years, picked up where it left off against the Panthers (2-1) before play was suspended because of lightning with the Caballeros leading 21-7 early in the second quarter.
“We went through our same routine,” said Flowing Wells coach Mark Brunenkant, who had his players back at school by 5:30 a.m.. “We tried to treat it like it was a normal game day.”
Junior running back Dionte Flores – the lightning – finished with 107 yards and three touchdowns, two of which came Friday night before play was stopped. He now has 490 yards and seven scores in three games.
People are also reading…
Sophomore fullback Dylan Valenzuela provided the thunder and took advantage of Amphi's defense, which couldn't find a way to slow him down. He had 16 carries for 118 yards – 10 more yards than Dante Anderson gained rushing to lead the Panthers.
“The line was great today,” Valenzuela said. “The middle was open all game.”
Although he did the majority of his damage on the ground, Valenzuela was also one of three players to catch touchdowns from junior quarterback Julio Sandoval.
His 4-yard grab in early in the fourth quarter was one of five completions for Sandoval and extended Flowing Wells lead back to two touchdowns 35-20.
The Caballeros capitalized on an Amphi fumble on the ensuing kickoff and went on to score five plays later on am 8-yard run by Flores.
When the game resumed Saturday morning, Amphi had the ball on its own 44 facing a second-and-11. It took just three plays for Flowing Wells to force a turnover-on-downs and give the Caballeros the ball.
After allowing the Panthers cut the lead to 28-20, Flowing Wells tightened back up late in the fourth quarter.
Senior defensive end Nick Mason came up with a sack on fourth down and senior defensive back Alex Morales pulled in an interception the following series to end any hopes Amphi had of improving to 3-0 under first-yard coach Jorge Mendivil.
