Defense keys Falcons’ win
Cactus Shadows streak now at 16 after 7‑6 victory
Cactus Shadows 7, Higley 6
by Jason Stone

NORTH VALLEY – With a handful of offensive stars gone to graduation, Cactus Shadows High School knew its football success this season would lean heavily on its defense. If that’s the case, the Falcons should be just fine in 2007.

Higley High School scored on a trick play in the third quarter, but it was all it got in Cactus Shadows’ 7‑6 season‑opening road win last Friday night.

Johnny Barro scored from 2 yards out in the first quarter for CSHS, and it was all the Falcons needed to pull out their 16th straight victory. It was also the Falcons second straight win over Higley, the team Cactus Shadows beat for the 4A‑Division II state championship last year.

Higley (0‑1) didn’t get on the board until the third quarter when halfback Tito Gonzales found Erick Moon on a 51‑yard scoring pass. But the extra point was no good, and it proved to be costly for Higley.

“It was a great win for the team,” Cactus Shadows coach Chad Degrenier, said. “It was 46 guys coming together. We had one heartbeat on offense and defense.”

Without the high‑powered passing offense of Phillip Aholt and Kyle Watkins, who are both playing college football now, Cactus Shadows relied mainly on a grind‑it‑out running game. Barrow carried 28 times for 75 yards, and the Falcons handed the ball off 38 times.

The Falcons also attempted only 13 passes, which matched last season’s low, which came in a blowout win when the team stopped throwing.

Because of the graduation loss, Higley came into the game confident it would repay the Falcons for the victory. Degrenier said he it filtered down to him that Higley players “thought they were going to run all over us.”

Instead, Higley found out Cactus Shadows still has talent, including the seven returning starters on defense.

Cactus Shadows’ defense will certainly have its hands full this week when the Falcons take on perennial power Cactus High School in the home opener for CSHS.

Cactus running back Mike Brown is one of the state’s top backfield threats.

“The key will be to stop him,” Degrenier said. “They’re a good team. This won’t be easy.”

Cactus played in the 4A‑Division I state championship after the 2003, 2004 and 2005 seasons, winning it all in ’05.