Dynamic duo leads Diamondbacks to 3-0 start with dominant win

POCATELLO — Entering the season, the Diamondbacks had won just three games combined over the past four years.

Behind the two-headed backfield of juniors Tito Villano and Justus Mangum, Century (3-0) recorded its third win in three weeks Friday at Century High School, beating the Canyon Ridge Riverhawks (0-3), 34-6.

Asked for an overall assessment from his team, head coach Ryan Fleischmann expressed some frustration with his offense despite the lopsided score.

“I’m very impressed with our defense. Our defense played lights-out,” he said. “Our offense is still not firing on all cylinders.”

The coach added that his offense has not yet met his lofty expectations this season, but it has offered different shortcomings with each passing week. And he is choosing to take that as an overall positive.

“I’d like to think that we’re fixing some things, we’re just not putting it together like I think we can,” he said.

The Century offense threw its defense into the fire immediately, receiving the opening kickoff but turning over possession inside the 10 yard line on a fumble the first play from scrimmage.

But the defense answered the call, recording a sack on the first play of the ensuing possession and eventually forcing a missed field goal.

Immediately, Mangum and Villano made that missed opportunity hurt.

Just five plays after the missed kick, Century marched 80 yards to the endzone, capped by an eight-yard Villano touchdown.

While Mangum and Villano combined for 44 rushing yards on four carries, it was a 36-yard pass from Mangum to senior receiver Deshawn Clark that flipped the field.

Clark finished the night with nine catches for 118 yards and one touchdown, earning his own praise from Fleischmann .

The defense set up the next Diamondback score as well, on an interception from junior Brody Jablonski of Canyon Ridge quarterback Grant Hales.

Century followed the pick with a 54-yard drive, again finished on a Villano touchdown run.

The junior running back, who stood out as a sophomore last year despite the team’s struggles, ended his night with 134 yards and two scores on just 14 carries.

Fleischmann said after the game that he has nothing but great things to say about the workhorse ball-carrier.

“Tito’s wonderful. Tito’s wonderful,” he said. “He does exactly what you ask him to do, and he’s very consistent — you know what you’re going to get from him, even sometimes when the protection up front isn’t what it has to be. … Tito is a constant, definitely we can always fall back on him.”

Asked his take on the way he and his team played thus far this season, Villano said:

“It’s such a surreal feeling. I love this team from the bottom of my heart — I love my line, the line blocked their a**es off. I wouldn’t be able to do it without my line at all.”

He continued, saying about his offensive line:

“Best in 5A. I’ve said it before, and I’m going to keep on saying it. Best line in 5A.”

Behind that line, Villano added, is “easily” the most explosive group of skill position players he has ever been a part of.

Along with the big nights from Villano and Clark, senior do-everything man Carter Ward caught five passes for 32 yards and a score. He also kicked two extra points, pinned the Riverhawks back several times with excellent punts and intercepted a Hales pass in the fourth quarter to set up the dagger score from junior Lincoln EchoHawk — the team’s No. 2 running back.

Mangum ended his night completing 15 of 23 pass attempts for 161 yards and two scores, while rushing for 48 yards on four carries.

“Justus can always bail and do crazy things (running the ball),” Fleischmann said. “But he’s trying to stay in there, he’s trying to make his reads, he’s trying to learn those things that are not as easy for him as running past everyone.”

Perhaps the biggest turning point of the game came with just under a minute remaining in the first half.

Already down 13-0, Canyon Ridge head coach Juan Alvarado rolled the dice and sent his offense onto the field to go for it on fourth and two at their own 28 yard line. But as was the case most of the night, Hales felt immediate pressure and had to throw it before his intended receiver could create space.

The result was a turnover-on-downs, giving Century the ball at the Riverhawk 28 with 33 seconds remaining in the half.

Despite one of numerous false start penalties to begin the drive, Mangum connected on three of four pass attempts, finishing the short drive with a six-yard touchdown pass to Ward with four second left in the second quarter, giving the Diamondbacks a 19-0 lead and all the momentum heading into the break.

@justusmangum1 hits Carter Ward for a TD in the closing seconds of the first half. Century up, 19-0. pic.twitter.com/2sebNWjCmU

— Kalama Hines (@HINESight_2020) September 6, 2025

The Diamondbacks started the season 2-0 for the first time since 2009, and Fleischmann is uncertain when the team last began with a 3-0 record. the coach added, though, that he doesn’t want his team to think about being 3-0. Rather, their focus should be on being 1-0 next week, and having their hard work at practice translate to a good performance on the field, when they face the Idaho Falls Tigers (0-2) on the road next week.

“We’ve just go to go to work. … We talk a lot about being 1-0 every week,” he said. “We left a lot of money on the table. We’ve got to find a way to collect all our winnings.”