Riley Kelton is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Cactus High School for AZpreps365.com

Senior wide receiver Robert Bell Jr. and junior running back Jeremiah Angulo combined for five touchdowns, leading Cactus to a 52-35 victory over Sunnyslope on Friday night in Phoenix.

“We started the week off good and stayed disciplined,” Bell said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game because they were 3-1, and we just came out and fought as a team and got the win.”

Angulo was the first to score in the offensive onslaught, plunging in for a 1-yard run with 3:36 left in the first quarter. The Vikings immediately responded with a 54-yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Ryder Cirone a minute and 15 seconds later.

Still knotted at 7-7 in the second quarter, defensive back Isaiah Moncivaiz stopped the Vikings’ scoring threat with a red zone interception at the 2-yard line. After a 4-yard rush on the first play of the Cobras’ drive, Bell ripped off a 94-yard touchdown run to give the Cobras a 14-7 lead at the 9:37 mark, and they never lost the lead after that.

The Cobras’ offense thrived on chunk plays throughout the remainder of the game. In total, they had 10 plays of 20 yards or more and six plays of 40 or more, three of those going for touchdowns. Senior quarterback Luke Berlin finished with 417 passing yards and two touchdowns on 17 completions.

“We knew they were super athletic, and going into the game we said, ‘no big plays,’ and we gave up a bunch of big plays,” Vikings coach Sam Jacobs said. “Our offense couldn’t quite trade blow-for-blow with their plays.”

With 1:14 left in the half, the Vikings got their own big play from senior wide receiver Patrick Ross, who took a slant route 54 yards for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 24-21.

The Vikings got the ball back again with 30 seconds left and advanced to the Cobras’ 45-yard line. Junior quarterback Royce Vanacore threw his second interception of the night to Isaiah Johns, giving the Cobras an extra opportunity before halftime.

Berlin connected with senior wide receiver Jahvon Clemens for a 25-yard catch before Clemens stepped out of bounds with 0.3 seconds left. Angulo followed with another 1-yard touchdown run to give the Cobras a 31-21 halftime lead.

“I think that interception at the end of the half swung the game,” Cobras coach Brian Belles said. “Up until that point, it was back and forth, and I thought they were going to get a field goal or touchdown. Instead, we got that interception and scored right before half, which was a huge momentum swing for us.”

The Cobras received the ball after halftime and picked up right where they left off. Bell took a screen pass 72 yards on the opening possession, giving Cactus a three-possession lead. Bell finished with 10 catches for 145 receiving yards and three rushes for 106 yards, scoring two touchdowns.

“He’s a fantastic player, and we knew they wanted to get him the ball,” Jacobs said. “We did a poor job of keeping him in front of us and tackling him, so hats off to him. He played a great game and they executed way better than we did.”

Bell wasn’t the only skill player giving the Vikings problems. Clemens had 215 receiving yards and a touchdown on six catches.

Despite the loss, the Vikings also had a strong showing on offense. Vanacore completed 23 of 33 passes for 342 yards and four touchdowns, along with two interceptions. Cirone finished with eight catches for 129 yards and two touchdowns. Ross finished with seven catches for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

“We’ve been struggling a little bit on offense, and I felt like we bounced into rhythm tonight,” Jacobs said. “Royce did a really good job. He drives me crazy running around back there sometimes, but sometimes it ends up in touchdowns, so it’s hard to complain about that.”

“Defensively, there’s a lot of stuff we have to work on in terms of tackling and not giving up ad-lib plays,” Belles said. “That quarterback is really good at scrambling around and finding someone, and we have to do a better job when plays break down.”

Cactus (4-1) will hit the road for a third straight week next Friday to face Apollo (1-4). Sunnyslope (3-2) will travel to Ironwood (1-4) Friday night. Both kickoffs are set for 7 p.m.