Sayani Long scored a pair of touchdowns Thursday night against Adelanto as the Granite Hills football team bounced back from last week’s loss to Silverado.
Long broke off a big 74-yard run to put the Cougars on the board, and then sealed the 14-0 victory at Julian Weaver Stadium with a 14-yard punch in.
“I’m really grateful for my line, they are the ones that gave me the chances to make those plays,” Long said. “Everybody on the team is doing what they need to do and just making plays for everybody.”
Long also snagged one of three interceptions from the Granite Hills defense.
“On defense, we’re always doing our thing, creating turnovers, swarming and I think it just pays off at the end of the day,” Long said.
The first half got off to a slow start with the teams exchanging punts in the first quarter.
Granite Hills got the first turnover of the night on the first play of the second quarter. Adelanto quarterback Josiah Hayes stepped back from around midfield and heaved a pass up for Javares Chambers on a go route. But Granite Hills cornerback Kaylen Edwards lept up and came down with the ball for the interception.
“I was just like, you gotta get that, and hope I don’t get Mossed,” Edwards said. “We really executed tonight. We’ve gotta clean up some stuff on offense, we will work on that in practice. But other than that, our offense is cool.”
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The drive for the Cougars eventually stalled out, but after the defense forced another punt came the first score of the night — Long’s 74-yard run with two minutes left in the half.
“I was just thinking, don’t let nobody catch me,” Long said. “My coach told me, 'Don’t juke, just go.' I hit that hole and I just went.”
Adelanto’s offense seemed to find a rhythm late in the third quarter.
Devon Easley made a spectacular 15-yard catch on fourth-and-long midway to set the Saints up inside the red zone at the 17. But a pair of penalties afterward created a 3rd-and-29 play from the 36-yard line.
That’s when Long came up with his interception.
The Cougars didn’t capitalize but forced a punt on Adelanto’s following possession. A booming punt just went into the end zone for a touchback, setting up the Cougars at their own 20.
Braylen Edwards lined up as the quarterback in a wildcat formation, took the first snap 45 yards to the Adelanto 35-yard line.
“That was actually a broken play, so I just had to find something,” Salazar said. “Found a small piece of grass and just took off. Was hoping (for a touchdown) but I saw the defender. Didn’t want to get injured so I just ran out.”
Salazar ran two more times for 16 and five yards, setting up Long’s 14-yard touchdown, followed by an interception from Martionn Brown to seal the deal.
For Adelanto head coach Nate Stokes, he saw his players battle all 48 minutes, especially knowing the defense held Granite Hills to just seven points for much of the night.
“We are building, this is a long process, we know that it’s a journey,” Stokes said. “We are just trying to put it together with baby steps, week after week and just keep building. I’m so proud of my guys. We just gotta fix a few of the small things and we will be alright. We’ve still got a few games left.
"We’ve got some fight in us so we are going to go out with our heads up and fight 'til the end.”
What’s next
Both teams are back in action next week in Friday night games.
Adelanto returns home next week to take on Silverado. Granite Hills is back on the road to take on Victor Valley at Ray Moore Stadium.
Granite Hills head coach Alex Gonzalez believes there are quite a few kinks to iron out despite the win. That will begin with getting right back into things with a Friday practice, something that usually doesn’t happen after Thursday night games. The Cougars have played in four Thursday night games this season, with this being their last.
“With so many Thursday games, we are losing days of practice,” Gonzalez said. “So I just think it’s kind of catching up to us. We are just making so many little mistakes. It’s little tiny things that they have to see and have to do in order to fix. Our kids do execute well. They do their jobs, you know. It’s just a matter of whether they are going to do it at the speed of the other team.”
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: High Desert Football: Sayani Long runs in 2 TDs to lead Granite Hills past Adelanto
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