Double overtime win puts Gaels in playoffs

The prep football playoff picture finally came into focus Friday night, with Bishop Gorman, Cheyenne and Eldorado emerging as the biggest winners.

The Gaels claimed the area's final playoff spot with an emotional 44-37 double-overtime win over Durango at Sam Boyd Stadium.

"I am very proud of our mental set through this whole week," said first-year Gorman coach Roger Whalen, whose school will participate in the playoffs for the first time since 1988. "I wasn't sure three weeks ago we'd be able to do this."

The Gaels, who knocked the Trailblazers out of the playoffs, took the lead on a Jason Rogers' touchdown run in the second extra session. Defensive tackle Vance Babin preserved the win, recovering a Durango fumble to end the contest.

Gorman first-round opponent next week? Eldorado, which got some help from Valley to win its first Sunrise Division title since 1991, when the Sundevils captured the state championship.

After taking care of business with a 32-13 win over Silverado, Eldorado learned that the Vikings had pulled off a 25-21 upset of Green Valley, which led the Sunrise race for most of the season.

"After the game was over, a school police officer who knew me came up and said that Valley had beaten Green Valley," Sundevils coach Ken Trujillo said. "I yelled at the players that Valley had won, and the place just went nuts."

The Gators wind up with the Sunrise's No. 2 seed and will host Western Thursday. In an earlier meeting this season, Green Valley defeated the Warriors 26-20.

Cheyenne captured the Sunset Division title, completing a 9-0 regular season with a dominant 44-18 victory over Western.

"It always feels good to go undefeated," said Desert Shields coach George Perry, whose club won 13 straight games in 1995 before losing the state championship to Wooster. "But we tell them that the playoffs are another season, and we have to win four more games to finish our business."

Cheyenne was bolstered by the return of junior fullback Deon Ned, who missed last week's game with a knee injury. The area's leading rusher for most of the season, Ned was edged for the rushing title by Las Vegas tailback Curtis Wilson.

"We wanted to see what he could do, and hopefully get all the rust out against Western," Perry said. "As the game went on, he started running like the old Deon."

Cheyenne will host Chaparral in Thursday's first round. The Cowboys fell out of a potential second-place finish when they lost at Las Vegas, 28-14.

The Wildcats, who got four touchdown passes from area leading passer Anthony Marini, earned the Sunrise's third seed and will play at Cimarron-Memorial this Thursday.

The Spartans hammered nonleague foe Palo Verde on Friday and earned the Sunset's No. 2 seed when Western lost.

SOUTHERN ZONE TOURNAMENT

Thursday's first-round games

Chaparral (6-3) at Cheyenne (9-0), 7 p.m.

Las Vegas (6-3) at Cimarron-Memorial (6-3), 7 p.m.

Western (6-3) at Green Valley (6-3), 7 p.m.

Bishop Gorman (5-4) at Eldorado (7-2), 7 p.m.

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