Bianco, Tasi lead Spring Valley to key win over Mojave

By Tristan Aird

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014 | 11:25 p.m.

Michael Bianco does a little of everything for Spring Valley.

“Whatever’s asked of him, he gets it done,” Grizzlies coach Marcus Teal said.

That outlook helped Spring Valley earn one of its bigger victories in recent memory tonight.

Bianco scored a rushing touchdown and returned an interception for a TD to spark the Grizzlies to a 19-6 road win at Mojave that is likely to loom large in the Division I-A Sunset postseason race.

“I’d say Mike Bianco is pretty special,” Teal said. “He’s 5-7, about 170. The kid doesn’t like to lose; he plays to win.”

Christian Tasi added a rushing touchdown for Spring Valley, which improved to 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the I-A Sunset.

“In our 11-year existence, we haven’t had too many big games. The 2006 win against Bishop Gorman was probably the biggest win in our program,” Teal said. “This is probably the next-best because of what Mojave brings to the table.

“They have a mobile quarterback, an out-of-this-world running back. We just put a lot of emphasis on stopping the run. We felt we would have a good shot if we could score three touchdowns.”

That’s what Spring Valley did, with Bianco’s interception return sealing the win.

“My coaching staff, my coordinators, they put together a great plan,” Teal said. “They put a plan together for these kids, (and) the kids just executed; they bought into what we’re selling.”

Mojave dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in league play.

Rattlers quarterback Zack Arave passed for 156 yards and rushed for 60, Mojave coach Joe Delgado said. Davion Fletcher added 69 yards and a touchdown on two carries and caught three passes for 36 yards for the Rattlers.

Lamaja Cunningham recorded seven tackles, an interception and forced a fumble to lead the Mojave defense.

Tristan Aird can be reached at 702-259-8829 or [email protected]. Follow Tristan on Twitter at twitter.com/tristanaird.