Salpointe Catholic High School defeated visiting Surprise Shadow Ridge 41-0 on Friday night, earning the first victory with the Lancers for Pat Ryden.
Ryden, a former Pima College defensive coordinator and longtime assistant at the high school level, was the defensive coordinator at Salpointe before his hire last December.
After a slow first quarter that saw the teams in a scoreless tie, Salpointe (1-1) inserted junior quarterback Rayce Alvarez into the game.
Alvarez then led the Lancers to two quick scoring drives to put Salpointe up 13-0, a lead it would never relinquish.
“We had planned all along that Rayce was going to play tonight and he deserved an opportunity to see what he can do and I think he came in and responded very well,” said Ryden, who also had a two-year stint as head coach at Rincon/University.
Alvarez threw for 143 yards and three touchdowns, and Matthew Avelar, who started the game, passed for 105 yards and also ran one into the end zone. The ground game was a balanced effort with five players rushing for 20 or more yards, including a touchdown from Nathan Spivey and Van Birchak.
The defense from Salpointe was strong all night against Shadow Ridge (0-3). The Lancers forced three fumbles alone in the second quarter.
“I felt like last game against Marana we didn’t get after them enough,” Ryden said of Salpointe’s season-opening 27-24 loss at Marana on Aug. 30. “It was one of the things I told (defensive coordinator Joe) Bernier is we gotta get after it and be a little more aggressive defensively. I think you saw that tonight.”
Salpointe’s next game will be Thursday at Peoria Centennial. It’s the start of three straight road games to the Phoenix area. Following a bye week after playing Centennial, the Lancers play at Phoenix Desert Vista on Oct. 4 and Tempe Corona del Sol on Oct. 11.
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