No. 2 seed Yuma Catholic expected a physical matchup from No. 10 Round Valley and Shamrocks coach Rhett Stallworth got exactly that.

But Stallworth felt good about it minutes after his team walked away 40-14 winners over Round Valley in a Division V quarterfinal game at Higley High School.

"I'm proud of our kids," Stallworth said. "I thought we got the toughest draw we could of all the quarterfinals. Round Valley is big up front and physical. Our kids rose to the occasion and played a physical game."

Yuma Catholic (11-1) ran its winning streak to 11 games and next faces San Tan Foothills in the semifinals on Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. at Arcadia High School. San Tan Foothills advanced earlier in the day with a 43-13 triumph over Morenci. Round Valley, which played some of the tougher schools in Division IV among its losses, closed its season 6-6. Yuma Catholic outlasted San Tan Foothills three weeks ago in a shootout, 77-50.

Yuma Catholic took control with a pair of first-quarter scores two minutes apart for a 12-0 advantage. Quarterback Tommy Pistone completed 5-of-6 passes on Yuma Catholic's second possession to account for 67 yards in a 70-yard march. That drive ended with the first of two Ryan Gill 1-yard runs with 6:22 left in the first period. A 60-yard run by Tyler Moreno on the next possession set up Gill for his second TD at the 4:28 mark of the quarter. Pistone finished the night completing 15-of-30 for 185 yards.

The physical battle Stallworth figured would take place, kicked in to high gear as Round Valley rallied. The Elks chewed up 10 1/2 minutes of clock  in an 18-play, 63-yard TD drive. Round Valley converted three fourth-downs on the march, including a 24-yard halfback pass from Ethan Workman to Shad Lindsey. The drive finished with a 6-yard TD pass from Brandon Nicoll to Tyler Goldsmith with 6:52 left in the second quarter. That pulled Round Valley within 12-7.

"Even though they scored and made some fourth-down plays, I had a lot of confidence in our defense," Stallworth said. "They were going to have to beat us with their running game."
 

Yuma Catholic got some breathing room heading to halftime. The Shamrocks pieced together a 45-yard drive in a span of 1:31 to improver their lead to 18-7. Three Pistone completions and a pass interference penalty led to an 18-yard TD strike to wide out Everett McKinney with 24 seconds left.

Turnovers on Round Valley's first two possessions of the second half led to two third-quarter TDs for Yuma Catholic.  A 40-yard TD pass out of punt formation from Andrew Determan to Rocky Rutherford cashed in the first miscue. Kody Hazlett's 1-yard run after Yuma Catholic recovered a fumble at its 44 gave the Shamrocks a comfortable 32-7 lead heading to the final quarter.

"I thought if we cold stop them on the first drive of the (second) half we'd be in position to make them pass," Stallworth said.

That happened. Round Valley only totaled 89 yards on offense in the first half -- 57 rushing on 24 attempts. The Elks added only 36 more yards on the ground in the third period and picked up only two first downs. Yuma Catholic outgained Round Valley overall, 358-204.