Prep football: Golden Valley gets third consecutive victory

Golden Valley cornerback Kris Lemas wasn’t thinking about a pick-six. The junior wasn’t thinking about doing anything crazy with the ball. All he wanted to do was catch it and hit the turf.

That’s exactly what he did as Lemas intercepted a fluttering pass from Chavez quarterback Keith Doser with 1:20 left in the game to preserve a Golden Valley 30-26 win in front of a large Homecoming Night crowd at Veterans Stadium on Friday night.

“The only thing going through my mind is, ‘I have to catch it,’ ” Lemas said. “My main goal was to get it and fall down. I wasn’t trying to be a hero.”

His interception allowed the Golden Valley faithful a chance to exhale after some nervous moments following a late charge from Chavez.

The Titans (1-3) nearly rallied from an 18-point deficit with just 4:19 left as Danny Lopez hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Keith Doser to cut the lead to 30-18.

Chavez’s William Lauder then recovered a Rudy Aramburu fumble two players later to set up the Titans offense at the Golden Valley 34-yard line. Chavez drove down and Deon White scored on a 1-yard run with 1:57 left. Dosier found Rex Botts for the two-point conversion to put Chavez within four.

The Titans then recovered their second onside kick attempt of the night at the Golden Valley 49-yard line.

“It’s the same old stuff,” Cougars coach Dennis Stubbs said. “You’re hoping someone can make a play. We needed someone to come up big. We’ve been in so many situations like this you hope it pays off.”

Enter Ryan Morse and Lemas.

On second down, Morse came around the end and hit Dosier as he released the ball, causing it to float high in the air 25 yards down field, toward the GV sideline and into Lemas’ arms.

“It was pretty scary at the end,” Lemas said. “All we could do was hang in there and ride it out. That’s what we were able to do and get the win.”

The win gives the Cougars their first three-game winning streak since recording four consecutive victories in 2010.

Golden Valley was impressive early with Rudy Aramburu turning in his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game since filling in for the injure Isaiah Montanez (dislocated finger). Aramburu carried the ball 20 times for 139 yards, including touchdown runs of 16 and 5 yards.

Quarterback Armando Muzquiz connected with receiver Cadrian McDaniel on touchdown passes of 36 and 67 yards in the first half to help give the Cougars a 20-6 lead at the half.

“This was definitely a statement game,” said Muzquiz, who completed his first six passes and finished 9 of 15 for 190 yards. “There might be people who think the first two wins were luck or not against good opponents. To come back against a playoff team from last year definitely makes a statement.”

The Cougars defense was also impressive early, holding a Titans offense that scored 85 points in its last two games to just 12 points through the first three quarters.

Chavez isn’t an easy matchup with all the onside kicks, two-point attempts and fourth-down attempts.

“They don’t punt, they onside kick every time and every time it’s a crap shoot,” Stubbs said. “You can prepare as much as you want, but you don’t know how the ball is going to bounce.”

The Titans recovered two of their four onside-kick attempts, but Golden Valley held the Titans to 1 of 5 on fourth-down attempts and 1 of 4 on two-point conversion tries.

The Cougars head into their bye week with a winning record and get ready for their Central California Conference opener against Turlock in two weeks.

“Just to say we’re over .500 is a big confidence boost,” Muzquiz said. “Our team feels good about the position we’re in. Our defense has been kicking some major butt and our offense has been good. We just have to learn how to finish games.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Prep football: Golden Valley gets third consecutive victory."