Pioneers pass through Kofa

It started quietly with a 3-yard completion to Dillon Luther.

Next came a 17-yard pass, again to Luther.

And after Alex Cappellini completed his third pass in as many plays thanks to a one-handed snare by Connor Wessel, there was no stopping Phoenix-Pinnacle.

The Pioneers scored three touchdowns in the final six minutes of the second quarter, a blow to big for the Kofa Kings to recover from in a 34-7 win for the visitors at Irv Pallack Field on Friday night.

"I've had a couple hints of how good they are, and tonight my receivers lit it up," said Cappellini, who was 7-of-7 for 158 yards in the second quarter alone.

After a scoreless first quarter and a pinpoint punt from Kofa's Timmy Lee to the Pinnacle 6-yard line, Cappellini went to work. Wessel's catch set up a 6-yard toss in the flat to Alex Zemezonak for the 6-0 lead. Cappellini led another quick-scoring drive highlighted by a 29-yard pass to Taylor Stib out of the backfield, and then completed his six and seventh consecutive passes of the quarter, the final reception to Sean Alderman across the middle for a 37-yard TD and a 20-0 Pioneer lead with less than a minute in the half. All this after going 0-for-3 to start the game.

"I thought we had some guys in position to make plays defensively, and we just didn't do it at that point," Kofa coach Kevin Moore said. "We went with five defensive backs the majority of the night and that hurts us getting a pass rush, but weren't getting a great pass rush anyway when we had seven in the box."

The Kings (2-3) responded at the start of the second half. Kane Nelson scrambled out of a sure sack to hit Lee for a 51-yard reception and David Calvillo's 33-yard catch put them inside the 5 for a 3-yard plunge from Lee. Kofa's defense then kept the momentum in its favor, shutting Pinnacle down with back-to-back sacks from Lucky Castaneda and a stop on fourth-down and 18.

"I think a times our coverage was good," Moore said. "We got a bit of a rush on their passer in those third-and-long situations, and that's definitely something well take from this game."

But like all six of its previous drives, Kofa's offense backed itself up with penalties and had to give the ball back. Pinnacle scored four plays later on a 16-yard catch by Mike Tommassino - Cappellini's only completion of the second half and his seventh different receiver to haul in a pass.

"We just had to get on the same page," Cappellini said. "It was just a slow first quarter. Kofa came out tough. They're a good football team."

Pinnacle (3-2) held Kofa to less than 200 yards of offense, stuffing Lee and the Kings' run game from the outset. Lee's 14 carries only went for 50 yards. Stib had 16 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown for the Pioneers, who racked up 330 total yards.

"Same old story. We stress it day in, day out, minute in, minute out. We gotta get better up front or it's gonna hurt us," Moore said.