Basic’s dangerous offense on full display in victory over Durango

By Case Keefer (contact)

Saturday, Sept. 15, 2012 | 2:09 a.m.

To get an idea of how explosive the Basic football team is capable of being, think of a movie scene where pyrotechnics are going off all over the screen.

Better yet, add James Bond to the middle of the frame because the Wolves are just that slick. The only difference is, they won’t ever allow any opposition to find a convenient getaway.

The Wolves proved as much in a 59-36 victory over Durango Friday night. After a closely contested 17 minutes, they ignited late in the second quarter. Basic scored three touchdowns in 42 seconds to leave Durango charred and desperate.

“The intensity started on defense and then it passed to our offense,” Basic quarterback Jaylen Rose said. “So we just kept scoring and scoring.”

The lethal sequence began when junior running back Jon Scoffield, who had seven carries for 98 yards on the night, burst through the middle for a 21-yard touchdown.

The Trailblazers fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Wolves recovered. Seconds later, Rose fired a perfect spiral to DeVonte Boyd who caught the ball over his shoulder for a 35-yard score.

Durango caught the kickoff this time around, but Basic’s Chandler Kamai picked off a pass and ran it inside in the red zone. Antraye Johnson, in a flash, sprinted in another touchdown in before the half from 12 yards out.

Durango had led 14-12 with five minutes left in the second quarter. In a shorter amount of time than someone could have gotten to the front of the line at Basic’s concession stand, it was now 39-14.

“We have a quick-strike offense,” Basic coach Jeff Cahill said. “We did a good job of using it there.”

The offense struck with precision all night. In his second game as the full-time starter, Rose threw for 365 yards and six touchdowns on 20-for-35 passing.

Boyd was on the other end of four of those touchdowns, including one that could go down as Catch of the Year in Southern Nevada. With Basic trailing 14-12, Rose looked for Boyd near the end zone pylon on fourth-and-goal from the nine-yard line.

Boyd slipped as Rose let his pass go, but was able to bat the ball down with his right hand into his left for a grab that made everyone on the sidelines celebrate in disbelief.

“I thought he dropped it,” Rose smiled. “It was tight.”

Boyd finished with 141 yards. Durango double-teamed him early in the game, so Rose started to look for Johnson who scored on a 48-yard reception on a fourth-down in the first quarter.

Johnson contributed 164 all-purpose yards with three touchdowns, two receiving and one rushing.

“We thought we were going to come out here and it was going to be a close game,” Rose said. “But we got it together and defense did a lot.”

The Wolves did have problems with Trailblazers running back Marcus Williams, though. The Utah commit scored on touchdown runs of 54, 49 and 30 yard runs and finished with 17 carries for 172 yards.

Arie McQuaig and Gene Germain also had rushing touchdowns for Durango.

“Defensively, we’ve got to tighten the screws,” Cahill said. “Offensively, absolutely I’m happy, but we weren’t perfect.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.