Sonora’s Fumbles Send Canyon on a Roll

Canyon High School broke a tie with 31 unanswered points in the last three quarters and defeated Sonora, 38-21, in a prep football season opener Thursday night at Fred Kelly Stadium.

The Comanches took advantage of five first-half Sonora fumbles, recovering four inside Raider territory and converting those into three touchdowns and a field goal after Sonora took a 7-0 lead on its first possession of the game.

After Sonora drove 80 yards in just over two minutes to open the game, scoring on Noel Ishikawa’s two-yard run, Canyon came right back. Running back Joel Reese scored on a three-yard run with 2:26 left in the first quarter, followed by the first of five Casey Wilson extra-point kicks, to tie the score.

Linebacker Jerrick Harper had the first of his two fumble recoveries, leading to a 38-yard field goal by Wilson with 10:07 left in the first half and giving the Comanches the lead for good.

Canyon scored touchdowns on its next three possessions. Quarterback Adam Hoover, who threw for 231 yards and three touchdowns, connected with Troy Langley for a 29-yard scoring play and later tossed a touchdown pass of 11 yards to Tim Tynan.

Greg Jacobs tallied the other Comanche touchdowns, one on a two-yard fumble recovery after Reese lost the ball near the Raider goal line in the second quarter. He then eluded four Sonora defenders in the third quarter, teaming with Hoover on a 74-yard pass play for another touchdown.