PAYSON — Three different players scored touchdowns for No. 2-ranked Round Valley on a stormy Thursday evening, but it was the Elks defense that really stood out in a 21-0 shutout win over No. 9 Payson.

More than 30 lightning strikes across the region paired with torrential rain forced a 71-minute delay in action between two of the 3A conference’s best teams, but with a new turf football field in place, players gained their footing quickly in this 3A Mountain region matchup.

During the delay, Fiesta Bowl and CW7 Arizona personnel were huddled under a pop-up tent in the end zone, fans retreated to their cars and some even left to go get dinner before kickoff.

In the end, Round Valley (6-0, 2-0 3A Mountain) showed why they are the defending champs, swarming to the ball all night defensively and suffocating a Payson offense that came into Thursday night’s rainy affair averaging 35 points per game.

“[Our] defense played unreal. That was probably the main factor in the game, the defense playing as well as they did,” Round Valley coach Brad Baca said.

At the end of the first quarter, both squads were tied 0-0 before Jaxon Crick punched it across the goal line on a 1-yard touchdown run, capping a 65-yard drive fueled by a fake punt to take a 7-0 lead with 7:16 remaining in the second quarter.

“They had some things hit early. The fake punt was a huge momentum boost for them, and they play so hard and physical, you can’t give them momentum,” Payson coach Bryan Burke said.

Using that momentum and with 1:09 to play before halftime, Baca saw something in Payson’s defense and quickly called a timeout. On the ensuing play, quarterback Kage Finch found Rhome Jeans down the left hash for a 50-yard touchdown strike, pushing the Elks’ lead to 14-0.

“Our mentality has always been ‘one more.’ One more week we’re going 1-0. That’s what we did tonight. We put the rain, the lightning, the delays behind us and we came out fighting and we got a good win tonight,” Finch said. “This team is a bunch of fighters; we’ve got some dogs. It’s unparallel the heart this team has. It’s awesome.”

From that point on, Round Valley’s punishing defense squandered any hope that the Longhorns (4-2, 1-2 3A Mountain) could muster to get over the hump.

“We’re in a pretty good spot, but we have a lot of work to do. Like tonight on offense, we didn’t click. We have nights where we go up and down, up and down, so we must fix that and be more consistent and we’ll be tough to beat,” Baca said.

Round Valley added another score with 4:48 to play in the game as Titan Myers ran 47 yards for a touchdown, but by that point, it was all but over.

“I’m happy about the win, it was a rough night. This is always a tough place to play. Payson is tough, they are well coached. Coach Burke does a great job.”

Burke said his group played “tough” in a lot of situations, but they struggled to convert on third and fourth down several times Thursday night, and were in the red zone twice early on and didn’t convert.

“We must get better there. We have a lot of movement on the offensive line right now and it’s showing with missed assignments. To me, we have a lot of kids playing assignment football, fundamental football. We just must clean it up a bit,” Burke said. “This doesn’t define our season. Round Valley is a great team.”

UP NEXT

Round Valley looks to continue their winning ways with a road trip to Show Low on Oct. 9. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

The Longhorns head to rival Blue Ridge on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on X at @AzPreps365Brian or on Facebook at @Five2MediaWorks. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.