Desert Oasis’ blowout win over Cimarron called ‘biggest win in school history’

By Jesse Granger

Friday, Oct. 16, 2015 | 11:49 p.m.

The game has been circled on the calendar hanging in Desert Oasis’ locker room for months.

The Diamondbacks have always been somewhat of a little brother to Cimarron-Memorial, and had lost to the Spartans three straight years heading into Friday’s game.

They made up for all of it in one night.

Ty’shun McClinton ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns to lead Desert Oasis to a 49-7 blowout win over the Spartans.

“It’s the biggest win in school history,” Desert Oasis coach Brad Talich said. “It’s something that the senior class dedicated themselves to in the offseason.”

The Diamondbacks jumped on the Spartans early, leading 28-0 at halftime and it could have been even more lopsided with two Desert Oasis touchdowns being called back for penalties.

Sophomore wide receiver Jaden Mitchell caught two touchdown passes from Brannon Flowers, but the defense was the star of the night.

“The defense played really well tonight,” Talich said. “We’ve been preparing for Cimarron for quite some time.”

Veteran middle linebacker Ryan Knipp was like a coach on the field for the Diamondbacks, who seemed to have an answer for everything Cimarron-Memorial could throw at them.

“Knipp did a great job calling signals and it showed tonight,” Talich said. “He got us into defenses that we wanted to be in, and it stopped the run game.”

Desert Oasis now controls its own destiny, sitting one game behind Centennial in the league standings with a date against the Bulldogs next Friday.

Jesse Granger can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Jesse on Twitter at twitter.com/JesseGranger_.