Arbor View’s football team has leaned on its dynamic air-raid offensive attack to rack up points this season.
But with a spot in the state championship game on the line — and on a cold and windy night — the Aggies counted on their deep running back room to help make program history Friday.
Arbor View pounded out 253 rushing yards and scored four times on the ground, and the second-seeded Aggies pulled away in the second half for a 37-21 home win over No. 3 Coronado in a Class 5A Division I state semifinal.
The Aggies (10-1) will face top-seeded Bishop Gorman — a 49-3 winner over No. 4 Liberty in the other state semifinal — on Nov. 26 at Allegiant Stadium for the state title at a to-be-determined time.
It’s the first time in program history Arbor View will play for a football state title.
“It’s awesome, especially for these seniors,” first-year coach Marlon Barnett said. “They haven’t had this opportunity to play in a state semifinal. I’m extremely proud of those seniors because they could have left after I took the job, but they didn’t.”
Sophomore running back Kamareion Bell had a team-high 125 rushing yards and two scores, and senior Sean Moore rushed for all 82 of his yards in the second half.
“We knew we weren’t the same team (Coronado) faced last time,” Bell said. “We knew we were going to run the ball a lot, and that’s what we came out here and did.”
A key stop on defense early in the fourth quarter helped Arbor View begin to seal the win. With the Aggies leading 27-14, Coronado (7-5) had a first-and-goal at Arbor View’s 3-yard line, but the drive didn’t end in points for the Cougars.
Arbor View stopped Coronado running back Derek Hurley short of the end zone on first and second down, and forced incomplete passes on third and fourth down to get a turnover on downs.
Bryson Pabon broke up an Aiden Krause pass in the end zone that was going to be a touchdown to Utah commit JJ Buchanan, sticking his arm in as soon as Buchanan attempted to make the catch.
“It was huge,” Barnett said. “We practiced backed-up situations, so we already kind of knew where we were at. We practiced situational football, so it was just the norm.”
Arbor View then grinded out a nine-play, 93-yard drive that ended with a 4-yard Bell touchdown run to extend its lead to 34-21 with 8:29 to play.
Krause connected with Neville Roberts on a 90-yard touchdown pass on the ensuing possession, but Arbor View recovered the onside kick and kept feeding Bell, Moore and Nylen Johnson to run the clock down.
“I told (the team) on Monday, I know I’m an air-raid guy, I love throwing the ball, but I’m going to lean on my (running) backs and O-line this game,” Barnett said. “If you guys go in there and set the tone, that’s going to be the difference-maker this week.”
Thaddeus Thatcher completed 17 of 22 passes for 147 yards with a touchdown pass for Arbor View. His 1-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter gave the Aggies a 27-14 lead. Tico Pringle had an interception in the fourth quarter for Arbor View, and kicker Quintin Longmire made a 22-yard field goal.
Krause completed 13 of 30 passes for 270 yards and threw two touchdowns and rushed for a score, and Buchanan finished with 93 receiving yards and 106 yards on a pair of kickoff returns.
Bell’s first touchdown run came on a 1-yard run late in the first quarter to give Arbor View a 14-7 lead after Thatcher and Krause threw touchdown passes. Krause broke off a 10-yard run to tie the score at 14.
The Aggies forced a turnover on downs on Coronado’s last drive of the half, and they took a 20-14 halftime lead on a 2-yard touchdown run from Johnson.
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