Silver Valley wins shortened game

Editor's note: Due to technical problems, the Desert Dispatch was unable to update this story Friday night. We apologize for the inconvenience.

MOJAVE • Darren Johnson was only trying to live up to his nickname — Make It Happen.

The Mojave running back kept fighting for every inch even as a pack of Silver Valley football players surrounded him. In what seemed like a harmless play to end the first half ended the Mojave’s Homecoming game.

The Silver Valley High School football team won 21-0 after Johnson was knocked unconscious, and Mojave forfeited the game.

Johnson was stopped at the line of scrimmage, met by a wall of Silver Valley defenders, but kept his legs moving. The Trojans (3-2) stripped and recovered the ball. The half ended, but Johnson remained motionless.

“He bounced out and I grabbed his legs, and I thought it just looked like a team tackle, like a gang tackle,” Silver Valley senior Devin Irvin said. “Like somebody holds him and then the team comes in and cleans up, makes sure he gets down.

“We didn’t think he was going to be hurt that bad. We do not want to hurt anybody. That is one thing we do not want to do. Our prayers go out to him. We believe he’s going to be OK.”

An ambulance was brought on the field during halftime, but he was still on the ground surrounded by coaches and paramedics as the half ended. The extent of his injuries was not released.

When Silver Valley players began marching back on to the playing field, referees informed the Trojans the game was over.
A helicopter was brought in, and Johnson was flown to Bakersfield. All homecoming activities were canceled.

Johnson lead all Mojave runners with 49 yards before the injury. Mojave coach Larry Satterfield declined to comment after the game, but assistant coach Bill Wilson said he was breathing irregularly while he was down.

“He’s just a great kid,” Wilson said. “He’s a fighter, and he just gets every inch that he can and he just caught something in the head.”
As the helicopter came in, Silver Valley coach Andy Campbell gathered his team to say a pray before packing up and heading back to Yermo.

“Nobody likes to see this happen. My thoughts and prayers are with him,” Campbell said. “He’s a great outside runner. He was definitely our halftime adjustment.”

During the game, Silver Valley jumped on the Mustangs (3-3) early and picked up their first win against a ranked opponent in years. Mojave, a freelance team which is expected to join the Desert Mountain League next year, entered the game ranked No. 7 in the Northeast Division while the Trojans dropped out of the poll but still received votes.

“If someone wants to claim the Division XIII championship they have to say they beat us,” Campbell said.

Senior quarterback Chris Bailey scored just five plays into the game when he took the snap from the 50-yard line and cut up the left side of the field for a touchdown. Bailey finished with 89 yards rushing on five attemps and 38 yards passing.

Irvin said he blamed last week’s 33-27 loss to St. Genevieve on himself for dropping several passes and losing a fumble on a kick return but made amends Friday. Irvin scored on a 36-yard interception return and made a 28-yard catch to make it 21-0.

Silver Valley accumulated 222 yards of offense in the first half and held Mojave to 80 yards.

Silver Valley    13    8    X    X    —    21
Mojave              0    0    X    X    —    0

First Quarter
SV — Bailey 50 run (Bailey kick)
SV — Irvin 36 interception return (run failed)
Second Quarter
SV — Irvin 28 pass from Bailey (Bailey run)

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4124 or mpeters@desertdispatch.com