Canyon Puts Away El Dorado With Passes, Late Interception

Greg Jacobs caught eight passes, but it was the pass that Kody Miller caught that helped Canyon overcome El Dorado Thursday at El Modena High.

Jacobs caught everything near him, but it was Miller’s late interception and 53-yard return that finally gave Canyon comfort in the Comanches’ 31-14 victory.

“We played like it was our first game,” El Dorado Coach Rick Jones said. “We couldn’t stop their passing game--(quarterback Adam Hoover) had a good game, was able to keep his composure and did a good job of hitting different targets.”

Each team had four turnovers but it was the Golden Hawks who really hurt themselves with mistakes:

* A penalty wiped out Ismail Abdullah’s 48-yard scoring run.

* A late hit by Bryan Schenk on a fair catch gave Canyon the ball on the El Dorado 17, and the Comanches scored two plays later on K.C. Pelle’s three-yard run to make it 14-7.

* Quarterback Mike Marzicola fumbled at the 14-yard line, stalling one scoring opportunity.

* Two Marzicola passes were intercepted in the fourth quarter--one from the Canyon six-yard line and the other from the 27; the latter was returned 53 yards by Miller and set up Canyon’s final score to make it a 17-point game with 4 minutes 15 seconds left.

Hoover, who also ran for a touchdown, completed 15 of 26 passes with two interceptions and two touchdowns, both to Ryan McGonigan--from nine and 11 yards. McGonigan caught four passes for 47 yards, in large part because of the double coverage on Jacobs, who had eight catches for 96 yards.

Hoover completed his first six passes, the last of which ended in McGonigan’s first touchdown. But El Dorado tied the score, 7-7, on Delonne Kelly’s two-yard run that came after Hoover had fumbled on the Canyon 10.