As neat and orderly as Campo Verde's players were lined up sitting after their 41-26 win over Sunnyside on Friday night, there were chunks of the game that were anything but orderly.

A consistent ground game kicked into high gear in the second half and the defense supplied a pair of touchdowns helping Campo knock off determined Sunnyside in the season opener for both schools at Campo Verde.

Campo won despite committing five turnovers and getting penalized 10 times for 105 yards. On the flip side, the Coyotes managed 497 yards of offense. Three of the turnovers set up two of Sunnyside's touchdowns and the other was a scoop and score in the final minute of the game. 

"Even though we have a lot of seniors, we are a young team," Campo Verde coach Max Ragsdale said. "Three-fourths of our seniors played behind seniors last year and didn't get much time. I liked how our defense played and how we ran it.

"Sunnyside is a feisty team. It was still a one-score game early in the last quarter. I know they are young, too. They put up a goo fight."

Caden Calloway and Cameron Pinion were a nice 1-2 punch on the ground as Campo amassed 313 yards rushing. Calloway carried 18 times for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Pinion chipped in another 128 yards on 16 totes. It wasn't until the second half, however, that Campo decided to keep pounding away on the ground, which they'd done in the first half with ease.

"We were running it well, and we saw some things we thought we could do throwing," Ragsdale said. "We just didn't play pitch and catch very well the first half when we threw the ball."

The teams exited the first half tied at 13. They combined for five turnovers in the half  -- nine when the game finally ended - nearly three hours after it started. Campo's first turnover came three plays into the game - a fumble that set up the first of three touchdowns by Sunnyside's Martin Arvizu - two short runs and a fumble return TD. Sunnyside recovered the the fumble at Campo's 6.

Campo scored the next two TDs-- good for 13 points. The second TD via a scoop and score from 25 yards out by Ryan Sunga after a jarring hit by Chad Roderick forced the fumble. 

The second half began a with a three-and-out for Sunnyside and Campo proceeded to run the ball all but two plays in the third period. Calloway's second TD put Campo up for good 20-13. The Coyotes forced another three-and-out an were driving for a second TD in the quarter but turnover No. 4 ended the drive inside Sunnyside's 10. Campo outgained Sunnyside 140-1 in the third period.

Sunnyside neared midfield as the final quarter began down only 20-13, but their third turnover of four set Campo up in Sunnyside territory. In a matter of four minutes, Campo scored three TDs to put the game away at 41-13. The scores were a 15-yard TD pass from Bryan Rivas to Ryan Hutchens, a 62-yard interception return by Chris Villalobos and an 11-yard TD pass from Zach Herrera to Danny McFarland - the last with 5:30 to play.

"They just whipped us up front," Sunnyside coach Glenn Posey, back as the team's mentor for the fourth time. "We ended up throwing the ball too much. Put  too much on our freshman quarterback.. ..

"I was proud of our effort, though. They are an established program and you respect that."