Highland High of Palmdale may have filed into Harry Welch Stadium chanting, “We’re ready for war,” but it was Golden Valley that conquered.
The Grizzlies shut out the Bulldogs 30-0 in Friday night’s preleague opener.
Golden Valley’s Ahvie Harris, who played primarily defense last season, was a receiving weapon of choice on offense. He scored a touchdown each time he touched the ball: twice in the first quarter and once in the third.
The Bulldogs might have been focused on stopping Jalin Lewis, but they needed to worry about Harris, too.
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“This was basically my first varsity game starting on offense and whenever I saw the ball in the air, my face just lit up,” Harris said.
Harris caught touchdown passes from two different quarterbacks: Logan Morrison and Zachary Chevalier. The Grizzlies (1-0) have been looking for a replacement since Josh Valano graduated, and it looks like they have two quality options.
But there’s certainly room to grow for both.
“They’re both new to varsity football, and that’s why it’s sometimes good to put two in because I can talk to the other on the sideline, and he can kind of regroup,” said coach Dan Kelley.
“They both did quality things tonight, but as an offense, we didn’t jell, play in and play out.”
Morrison started the game and completed 7-of-13 passes for 127 yards against Highland (0-1). Chevalier was 4-for-11 with 81 yards.
In his first game donning black and gold, DeGabriel Floyd hauled in a pass for a 24-yard touchdown in the third quarter. He also had an interception early on that was a catalyst for a touchdown two plays later.
“You have to account for him on both sides of the ball and he showed that tonight,” Kelley said. “He had some great catches on offense, and he played really well on defense, too. He’s doing exactly what we taught him to do.”
Jordan Anderson rounded out the scoring with a 13-yard rushing touchdown with two minutes and 40 seconds left in the game.
“We came out, executed, we did what we had to do,” Harris said.
