Richard Smith West Valley Preps Pardon the pun, but it was a move Valley Vista coach Josh Sekoch could no longer delay. The team's most natural passer, sophomore Burton Delay, was available again after recovering from a concussion suffered Sept. 7 at Phoenix Desert Vista. Inserting him at quarterback early in the second quarter at local rival Shadow Ridge allowed the Monsoon to deploy its best receiver - senior starting quarterback Antonio Gomez. Gomez took the move in stride postgame, even saying he was pleased with it. It helps that Delay threw touchdown passes of 45, 38 and 41 yards in the 21-13 win for Valley Vista (5-4, 2-2 Southwest Region). "It was something we did plan for a while. I thought it would be better for the team, it would make the wide receiver position better," Gomez said. "We have that chemistry from youth football. Whenever I'm at receiver I just make plays." Gomez finished the game with three catches for 45 yards and completed four of nine passes. Most of those came in a first quarter where both offenses were stagnant. Since preseason, Valley Vista coach Josh Sekoch has called Gomez his best receiver. The coach just felt more comfortable with his senior's knowledge of the offense. "If he practiced (at receiver) all year - and he wants to walk on at NAU - he can play at that level," Sekoch said. Shadow Ridge (4-5, 0-4) also relied on its backup quarterback, but not by choice. Junior starter Kaiden Lansford could not play due to sciatic pain resulting from a hit in the Oct. 12 loss to Avondale La Joya. Lansford threw for 1,306 yards, 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in the first seven games. Another junior, Andrew Shahan, made his first start after seeing mop-up duty against North, Maryvale and La Joya. "Andrew played hard. We didn't give him much of a chance. We didn't block real well for him," Shadow Ridge coach Bob Chappelle said. The Stallions defense spotted its temporary starter a touchdown late in the first quarter. Senior linebacker Travis Pantazis sacked Gomez and forced a fumble, which junior safety Josh Cano returned 35 yards for a score. "The defense played great all night. The defensive score kept us in it," Chappelle said. "We knew they might bring the young kid in to play a little quarterback and put their quarterback out at receiver. They got a couple passes on us even when we covered them well." Sophomore receiver Liam Kelleher's leaping grab of Delay's deep throw just less than eight minutes before halftime resulted in a 45-yard touchdown. While Delay incorporated the deep ball into the attack, junior tailback Henry Brown was the steady first half force for the Monsoon, gaining 75 yards on 11 carries. Junior linebacker Makai Obregon set up the tie-breaking score, intercepting Shahan near midfield. Five plays later, Delay hit sophomore Nygel Bridges on an out for a 38-yard touchdown. "Burt doesn't know some handoffs because he doesn't get all the reps. But did a good job and didn't throw any picks," Sekoch said. "That's what we asked him to do. We had to throw deep, because they were loading the box." Later in the second half, Obregon picked up a second interception, while senior cornerback Haudarie Andrew snagged his sixth pick of the season. Andrews' pick set up the decisive play of the night. Delay hit senior Damianno Para for a 41-yard score and 21-7 lead. "It was really nice. I played (at Shadow Ridge) my freshman year. All those guys are my brothers no matter what. But it was nice to get that deep ball and hear the crowd grow silent," Parra said. Gomez and Parra attended Shadow Ridge as freshmen and were teammates of the currently senior-dominated Stallions squad. So Friday's game mean more for them than being top dog in Surprise for the third straight season. "It's a personal game for us and a great way to end our senior year - to have bragging rights all around Surprise. next year, they're going to be awesome. It's a good way to leave," Gomez said. Both teams have goals remaining in their regular season finales next week, mainly for their seniors. Valley Vista seeks its first win in nine attempts against its white whale - Avondale Westview. Shadow Ridge, with or without Lansford, will be favored to beat Copper Canyon and finish with a 5-5 record. Chappelle said he wanted more for his 22 seniors - many of whom are three-year starters. But for a program lacking a winning season since its 2013 playoff team - in what now would be called 4A - finishing .500 after moving up to 6A is progress. And both teams have reasons to believe they can break out in the next two years. Often, Gomez is Valley Vista's only senior starter on offense. Delay, Kelleher and Bridges are joined by two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman on the offensive line. Brown has moved mostly to tailback and finished with 128 yards on 17 carries, and the other backs, Aiden Cunningham and Yazid Tyler, are also juniors. Even without this talent, Valley Vista's impressive class of 2021 is good enough to lead a 6-2 junior varsity team. But that squad is 6-2 after losing 14-12 to the undefeated (8-0) Shadow Ridge JV. That group will form the heart of next year's Stallions along with Lansford and a handful of junior starters. The Stallions finally unlocked their offense in the final four minutes Friday, with senior receiver Nate Clement taking a pair of boundary screens 19 and 23 yards. Shahan then threw his best deep ball of the night, connecting with senior receiver Darius Moore for 21 yards. That set up a seven-yard off tackle touchdown run by senior Julian Toles. A post-play hit on Monsoon nose tackle Walter Fa'Apouli led to the ejection of #64 (whose name is not listed on the Shadow Ridge roster). The hit reinjured the big man's knee and ended his high school career. Sekoch said Fa'Apouli dislocated his knee against Phoenix Pinnacle Sept. 21, but a  doctor was able to move it back into position without further damage. This was his first week back in practice and Fa'Apouli did not go through contact in drills. Shadow Ridge had a last chance but needed to go 80 yards in 50 seconds. That's doubly tough for a team that typically huddles and had to pare back its playbook. "We put in a heavy package with an extra offensive lineman. We did it last year but we really tried to expand it this week. They adjusted and played well. We didn't come off the ball well in the first half. We definitely had to shrink our offensive package," Chappelle said. Valley Vista senior linebacker Alexander Zacek sacks Shadow Ridge junior quarterback Andrew Shahan Oct. 19 at Shadow Ridge High School in Surprise. [Elliott Glick/For West Valley Preps][/caption]VALLEY VISTA 21 SHADOW RIDGE 13 SCORE BY QUARTERS

Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4	Total
Valley Vista	0	7	7	7	21
Shadow Ridge	7	0	0	6	13

SCORING SUMMARY SR - Josh Cano 35 fumble return (Damian Getejanc kick) VV - Liam Kelleher 45 pass from Burton Delay (Brandon Bird kick) VV - Nygel Bridges 38 pass from Delay (Bird kick) VV - Damiano Parra 41 pass from Delay (Bird kick) SR - Julian Toles 7 run (kick failed)