Saturday night's Cook Inlet Conference football game dragged out for three hours and yet Lynx senior Rafa Zavala required just one sentence and perhaps three seconds, tops, to furnish the CliffsNotes of Dimond's 47-21 victory over South.
"Our defense stopped the ball and our offense finished it off,'' Zavala said.
Dimond's defense, consistently won battles at the point of attack and seized five turnovers, and its offense used five touchdown passes from elusive senior quarterback Vondell Pilcher to give rookie head coach Nick Winkler victory in his CIC debut.
Fifth-ranked Dimond, which opened Winkler's tenure with a 54-0 nonconference win over Eagle River, improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the CIC. Defending large-school state champion South, which fell 21-17 at defending medium-school champ Soldotna in its season opener, dropped to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in conference.
The Lynx intercepted South back-up quarterback Ben Stearns three times – starter Jack Hanson was injured in the season-opening game, but Wolverines coach John Lewis expects him back this week – and pounced on two fumbles. Dimond's J.J. Tanuvasa ran back one of the fumbles 15 yards for a touchdown.
Dimond's Brandon Pili and Ikaika Fa'amasino created havoc on the defensive line, and Sean Sablan, Ethan Kwon and Kota Ainu'u grabbed interceptions.
"Our defense bailed us out – outstanding individual efforts, but an event better team effort,'' Winkler said.
On offense, Pilcher and company made good use of excellent field position at Dimond's Alumni Field. Three of their first-half touchdown drives began, respectively, on South's 44-yard line, its 32 and its 34. That prime field position twice came courtesy of interceptions, and presented itself on the other occasion when South, on the game-opening possession, thought it had gained a first down and did not realize it actually was fourth down. The Wolverines' confusion was understandable – the chains on their sideline were moved after a third down play, and that is indicative of a new set of downs.
In any event, the Lynx still had to translate favorable field position into prosperity.
"We've still got to make the play and put the ball into the end zone,'' Pilcher said.
That did not prove difficult with Tanuvasa slashing for 114 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries and frequently shedding arm tackles and also pulling his way for yardage after contact.
And Pilcher, who changes direction stunningly quick and musters exceptional zip on passes for a guy just 5-foot-9 and 151 pounds, completed 13 of 28 passes for 241 yards.
Pilcher connected with Ainu'u five times for 119 yards and three touchdowns. Zavala caught five passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns.
One of Ainu'u's touchdown catches showcased Pilcher's improvisational skills. Under rare pressure from the Wolverines in the fourth quarter, he bolted out of the pocket to his right and whipped a 37-yard strike.
"We know Vondell can run,'' Zavala said. "But at the same time he can throw on the run, so we're told to finish our route.''
Dimond's lone shortcoming was its propensity for penalties – the Lynx were flagged 17 times for 164 yards of back-stepping.
South received two field goals from Jared Harjehausen, a 5-yard touchdown run from Stearns and an 18-yard scoring run from Evan Benedict.
But Dimond's defense also held the Wolverines to negative yardage on 21 of their 62 snaps from scrimmage and limited them to 131 yards total offense. The Lynx offense generated 376 yards total offense.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr
South 3 7 3 8 -- 21
Dimond 13 14 7 13 -- 47
First Quarter
Dimond – Zavala 13 pass from Pilcher (Lyons kick), 4:07.
Dimond – Tanuvasa 19 run (kick failed), 2:48.
South – Harjehausen FG 36, :18.2.
Second Quarter
Dimond – Ainu'u 51 pass from Pilcher (Lyons kick), 8:46.
South – Benedict 18 run (Harjehausen kick), 3:31.
Dimond – Zavala 30 pass from Pilcher (Lyons kick), 1:04.
Third Quarter
South – Harjehausen 34 FG, 8:56.
Dimond – Tanuvasa 15 fumble return (Lyons kick), 7:28.
Fourth Quarter
Dimond – Ainu'u 37 pass from Pilcher (kick failed), 8:30.
South – Stearns 5 run (Kinnebrew run), 6:32.
Dimond – Ainu'u 10 pass from Pilcher (Lyons kick), 18.9.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – South: Benedict 16-36, Kinnebrew 5-35, Stearns 15-30, Jarrell 8-2, Moore 1-1, Phetchongpheng 2-0, Manuzzi 2-(-7). Dimond: Tanuvasa 19-114, Pilcher 10-14, Mathies 4-7.
PASSING – South: Stearns 5-13-3--34. Dimond: Pilcher 13-28-1--241.
RECEIVING – South: Benedict 2-11, Stokes 1-17, Squires 1-8, Jarrell 1-(-3). Dimond: Ainu'u 5-119, Zavala 5-79, Sabian 2-36, Hendrickson 1-8.