Anthony Remedios is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Paradise Valley High School for AZPreps365.com.

Cactus Shadows football defeated Paradise Valley 37-6 in Friday’s Northeast Valley region opener.

The Cactus Shadows Falcons displayed their dominance early in the game, scoring on all four of their drives in the first half. Their opening drive took seven minutes off the clock alone on a total of 15 plays.

The Falcons’ offense was fueled by a strong running game, especially by senior running back Jayden Bahoura and, later in the game, junior Ryan Berger.

“Anytime you can run the clock is important, and the ability to run the ball early allowed us to take that time off the clock, which helped our defense as well,” Falcons’ head coach Mike Hudnutt said.

Paradise Valley struggled Friday night with senior offensive lineman Chris Rayas out with an injury from last week’s game.

Trojans head coach Greg Davis said the team hopes to have Rayas return next week, a “big detriment” to the performance of the offensive line.

“Our offensive line didn’t play a great game, so we’ll watch film and try to get better,” Davis added.

Davis was excited about safety Jacob Weaver’s performance on Friday.

“[He] had a heck of a game. He made a lot of great tackles,” Davis said.

For the Trojans, senior running back Nick Gardner did most of the work in the run game, recording 19 carries in Friday’s loss to the Falcons.

“I wouldn’t be able to run the ball if it wasn’t for my O-line and my quarterback. And some of the blocks from the receivers when I got out of the pocket,” Gardner said.

Gardner scored the Trojans’ only touchdown of the game with a 32-yard rush with just over seven minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

The Falcons were active defensively Friday night, earning two major turnovers.

The first came on the Trojans’ third drive of the game after a Falcons 24-yard field goal put them ahead 17-0 with just over four minutes to go before halftime. Quarterback Ryan Deonise threw an interception to Billy Deatsch on a third-and-15 pass intended for Joseph Pompeo.

The Falcons then went on to score another touchdown to extend their lead to 24-0 just before halftime.

Later in the game, Deonise threw a pick-six to Jacob Steward for the Falcons’ final score of the night.

Deonise struggled to connect with his receivers against the Falcons, only completing one pass on 13 attempts.

“I know we can throw well. We do during practice,” Gardner said. “I’m sure next week we’ll be throwing the ball more.”

Davis is still unsure of the game plan for the second half of the season, mainly due to the uncertainty of his players’ health.

“We get better every game. Work harder, which we’re all doing. We just have to bring it to the game,” he added.

The Trojans lost their third game in a row and are now 1-4 overall, 0-1 in region play. They will prepare to face Sunnyslope on the road at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 8.