HIGH SCHOOL ROUNDUP : Cimarron Repels Valhalla’s Rally to Spoil Home Debut

Home debuts have not been kind to Valhalla and Las Vegas Cimarron-Memorial high schools. They have each other to thank for that.

Valhalla has fielded a varsity football team since opening in 1975, but the Norsemen had never played on their campus field until losing to Cimarron, 22-19, Saturday afternoon.

It was a payback of sorts for Cimarron, a second-year school that lost its initial home game to Valhalla, 28-0, last year.

“We really wanted to win here,” Valhalla quarterback Derek Hable said. “We really wanted to win this one for the faculty and students who came here and supported us.”

Behind Hable and Courtney Arrollado, the Norsemen came close.

After falling behind, 22-0, early in the third quarter, Hable completed 13 of 20 passes for 237 yards, and Arrollado scored three touchdowns to lead a valiant comeback effort.

Hable, a junior making his varsity debut, finished with 289 yards and 18 completions in 26 attempts. Arrollado, a senior slotback, had eight catches for 181 yards and two touchdowns, and he also mixed in a 15-yard touchdown run.

It was not enough, however, to catch Cimarron (1-1), which set a school record for points in a game. The old record was 21 points against Las Vegas Rancho Verde in one of Cimarron’s two on-the-field victories last season. A third came when Valhalla was forced to forfeit its Cimarron victory for preseason practice violations.

Cimarron used big plays to build its lead. Robert Howard scored on a 50-yard run. David Calvert turned a twice-tipped pass into an acrobatic 23-yard touchdown reception in the back eight inches of the end zone.

The third touchdown came after Cimarron punted away its first possession of the second half, and the ball bounced through the hands of return man Trevor Rodriguez. Cimarron recovered the loose ball on the 13-yard line, and Howard scored on the next play.

Valhalla didn’t get on the board until its second play of the fourth quarter. Facing a third-and-23 from its six-yard line, Hable connected with Arrollado 20 yards up field, and Arrollado turned it into a 94-yard score.

Seven minutes later, Arrollado scored on a 15-yard run, but Valhalla’s two-point conversion pass was broken up at the goal line to make it 22-13. Arrollado’s third touchdown came with only three seconds left.

Valhalla first-year Coach Randy Reid said it was his play-calling in the first half that cost him his first varsity victory.

“It was the first time I’ve been on the offensive side in a couple of years,” he said, “and it took me too long to figure out what was working for us.”