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

Cactus notched its first shutout of the season on Homecoming night, defeating Willow Canyon, 70-0, Friday night in Glendale.

“Winning on Homecoming is special,” sophomore cornerback Daylen Moore said. “The whole community is here and we put on for our city, our community and our families tonight.”

After the Cobras scored on an opening-drive, 12-yard rushing touchdown from sophomore running back Nathaniel Linares, Moore pulled down an interception on an attempted flea-flicker pass on the Wildcats’ first play from scrimmage. Moore finished the night with two interceptions.

“He did a great job tonight of locating the ball and making plays,” Cactus coach Brian Belles said. “Daylen started for us as a freshman last season for 14 games, so he is coming along well.”

With 5:10 left in the first quarter, senior wide receiver Robert Bell Jr. took a screen pass 59 yards to give the Cobras a 14-0 lead. After a second consecutive three-and-out by the Wildcats’ offense, senior quarterback Luke Berlin connected with senior wide receiver Jahvon Clemens for a one-play, 32-yard touchdown to give the Cobras a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“I think there was a focus level all week that hasn’t been there this year,” Belles said. “We are learning and growing, and our kids listened and executed in all three phases tonight.”

The Cobras continued to execute in the second quarter, starting their first offensive possession with a 10-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass to junior tight end Jeremiah Angulo. The next possession for the Cobras resulted in another one-play touchdown drive by junior wide receiver Isaiah Johns.

Cactus added one more touchdown before halftime, a 19-yard run up the middle by sophomore running back Elijah Coleman, to take a 42-0 lead.

With Willow Canyon junior quarterback Tate Callan sidelined with an injury, the Wildcats’ offense struggled to keep pace with senior quarterback Justin Garr Jr. at the helm. Garr was replaced after halftime by freshman quarterback Will Pennington.

“We’ve just had some growing pains,” coach Justin Stangler said. “We’re struggling to get dialed in, get the rhythm and get things going right.”

Pennington completed seven of 13 passes for 35 yards and an interception.

Berlin played his final drive of the night under center for the Cobras on the opening drive of the third quarter, finishing with a 40-yard touchdown pass to Bell Jr. with 7:52 to go. Berlin completed 12 of 19 passes for 279 yards and five touchdowns.

Sophomore Myron Lee led the Cobras’ offense the rest of the way. Lee broke off a 75-yard rushing touchdown and completed all three of his passing attempts, including a 7-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Malakai Rodriguez in the back corner of the end zone.

The final score of the night for the Cobras came from an unlikely source. King Williams, a 310-pound defensive lineman, lined up in the backfield with two minutes left in the game. Williams took the handoff and broke multiple tackles at the line of scrimmage before bulldozing his way into the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown run, erupting the entire Cactus faithful.

“We’ve had that in since week one,” Belles said. “That wasn’t spur of the moment. We just haven’t had an opportunity to call it and I’m super happy for King to have that moment.”

Williams was the ninth different Cobra to find the end zone in the 70-0 victory. Belles said the performance is something he hopes not only today’s players are proud of, but the former Cobras in attendance as well.

“Homecoming is a big deal because you have a lot of alumni coming in and the whole community is here watching,” Belles said. “Guys who played in the past want to see who’s wearing their number and if they’re representing it well. We talked about that this week and the kids did a good job representing them tonight.”

Cactus (6-2) will travel to West Point (2-6) next Friday, while Willow Canyon (3-5) will host Yuma Catholic (4-4) on Friday night.