Palo Verde’s football team rushed for 169 yards in the first half Friday night against Desert Oasis and built a 23-point halftime lead.
Panthers junior running back Rio Pascal kept up the dominance on the ground in the second half.
On the second play of the third quarter, Pascal broke off a 90-yard touchdown run, keeping momentum on Palo Verde’s side. Pascal rushed for 177 yards and three touchdowns, leading host Palo Verde, No. 10 in the Review-Journal’s Southern Nevada football rankings, to a 42-18 rout of No. 9 Desert Oasis.
“I challenged our offensive line, we have to run the ball better after the first two games,” first-year Palo Verde coach Dru Smith said. “They were double-teaming (top wide receiver X’Zavier McZeal) a lot, so we had to find another way to win. That’s what good teams do.”
Palo Verde (3-0) has matched its season win total from last year (3-7) and is 3-0 for the first time since 2019 and the second time in the last 15 years.
“Coach Smith, he changed the whole system,” Pascal said. “Before this, it was nowhere close to this. He transformed this whole program, so it’s a huge shoutout to him and all the other coaches he brought on.”
Pascal was one of four Panthers who rushed for touchdowns. Palo Verde finished with 311 rushing yards and its defense came up with four interceptions. Quarterback Cooper Roberts rushed for 78 yards with a touchdown and completed 4 of 5 passes for 31 yards.
“(Desert Oasis) scored on the first drive, but after that, they were pretty locked down,” Smith said. “For us to establish the run, we were able to throw it enough, our quarterback was running, so it was great, really good.”
Pascal’s 90-yard score put Palo Verde’s lead at 36-6, and Pascal added another 41-yard score in the fourth quarter after Desert Oasis (1-1) got a touchdown, putting the game out of reach at 42-12. Christian Bell and James Eliason came up with interceptions for Palo Verde’s defense in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a team game,” Pascal said. “Defense, offense, everybody’s got to act right.
“Us running the ball just helps the defense out more. It really improved how were are able to win this game and we have more work to do.”
Everything seemingly went right for Palo Verde in the first half. The Panthers held a 23-point lead with touchdowns from four different players, three turnovers and a blocked punt.
But Desert Oasis did get the game’s first score after the Diamondbacks fumbled while driving into Palo Verde territory and forcing the Panthers to a three-and-out.
On third-and-6, Desert Oasis quarterback Preston Helsham connected with Xavier Mullikin in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard touchdown, but the Diamondbacks led 6-0 midway through the first quarter after a missed extra point.
It was all Palo Verde the rest of the first half. Darrek Walker broke off a 22-yard run for a touchdown and the Panthers held a 7-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Panthers kept running the ball with Seth Thayer rushing for a 12-yard touchdown with 8:04 left in the second quarter, and two plays after a blocked Desert Oasis punt, Pascal broke off a 33-yard run to extend the lead to 21-6.
Palo Verde got one more chance to score before the break when Jayson Eliason intercepted Helsham near midfield. Roberts showed his legs, escaping pressure and scoring on a 37-yard run with 23 seconds left and a 2-point run gave the Panthers a 29-6 halftime lead.
Helsham completed 18 of 26 passes for 297 yards with two touchdowns, four interceptions and 51 rushing yards with a touchdown for Desert Oasis. Anthony Sarracino had seven catches for 158 yards for the Diamondbacks.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
