The weather never did warm up during Friday night’s High Desert League prep football battle, but the Spanish Springs Cougars finally did.

In frigid wintry weather, the Cougars picked off three North Valleys passes in the fourth quarter and scored four touchdowns in the same 12-minute span to blow open a close game and cruise to a 37-7 home win in the conference clash.

The win proves pivotal as it keeps the Cougars (5-2, 1-2 HDL) relevant in the HDL playoff race. A loss would have left Spanish Springs 0-3 in league play and likely out of the postseason mix.

“We’re right in the middle of it. I have never said we have to be the one or two seed. Let’s just make the playoffs. This was a huge win,” Spanish Springs coach Scott Hare said.

Spanish Springs took its first lead of the contest with 1:45 to go in the third quarter. Brandon Pelfrey’s 19-yard field goal did the trick, putting Spanish Springs on top 9-7. A 71-yard Cougars drive was stopped a yard short of the end zone, leaving Hare to call on Pelfrey. The key drive was highlighted by a 62-yard Richie Hernandez run.

Spanish Springs caught a big break less than two minutes later. North Valleys tried some chicanery on a fourth-and-9 play at its own 26. North Valleys lined up to punt but Panthers punter Will Bell took off on a fake and was stuffed six yards short of the first down marker after a critical open field tackle by Cougars special teamer Matt Rose.

The Cougars did not score on the following possession. However, the change in field position proved beneficial for the SSHS gridders.

They did drive into the North Valleys red zone, but Cougars quarterback Andrew Hodgkins was intercepted and North Valleys nixed Spanish Springs’ scoring hopes. However, on the very next play, Cougars linebacker Niko Leyva stripped the pigskin out of the hands of North Valleys running back Nolan Marvin’s hands. Leyva returned it 10 yards for a touchdown and Spanish Springs was up 16-7 with 9:30 left in the HDL tilt.

“I thought the field goal was a great defensive stand by our kids,” North Valleys coach Jason Ehlen said. “But after that, we turned the ball over and they made big plays. It seemed like all we did in the fourth quarter was turn the ball over and that hurt. When they got the momentum, they made big plays. They deserve all the credit.”

The nine-point lead forced North Valleys into a bit of panic. Spanish Springs linebacker Chris Dall intercepted a North Valleys pass and the Cougars took over at the NVHS 45. Spanish Springs went right down the field and added an insurance score with a 16-yard run by Jalen Dixon. Pelfrey’s PAT kick extended the Cougars’ lead to 23-7.

A minute later, Dall got into the mix again when he intercepted another Bell pass and raced 26 yards untouched to pay dirt, grabbing a 30-7 lead with 6:43 showing on the fourth-quarter clock.

The night didn’t get any better for North Valleys. The third Spanish Springs interception of the fourth quarter led to an 18-yard touchdown run by reserve JJ Baldivia, accounting for the final 37-7 margin.

“Obviously, we knew the weather could create some problems,” Ehlen said. “Both teams are able to run the ball, but I thought in the second half especially, Spanish Springs did a better job of executing their offense.”

The Spanish Springs defense turned in a stellar effort. The Cougars limited the Panthers to just 145 yards of total offense. The visitors managed only 81 yards on the ground on 29 carries and their passing game was 5-of-21 for 64 yards, including the three late interceptions.

“The last two years we’ve only given up about 150 yards of total offense to them and we still lost, but this year we made plays and turned them into points,” Hare said. “My hat’s off to (defensive coordinator) coach Quadrio. Our defense did a great job against their Wing-T.

“Like us, North Valleys wants to run the ball and dictate the game on the floor. When we got up nine points, we forced them into a game they probably were not comfortable with and that put us in a situation to make some plays.”

In spite of the late Spanish Springs surge, North Valleys put the early pressure on its hosts. North Valleys found the scoring column first. The Panthers took advantage of a Spanish Springs gift.

North Valleys missed a 27-yard field goal after its second drive stalled at the Spanish Springs 10. However, on the Cougars’ first play of the ensuing possession, SSHS quarterback Richie Hernandez fumbled, giving North Valleys the ball back at the Spanish Springs 25.

North Valleys cashed in on the generous field position and Marvin bolted 25 yards to the corner of the end zone for the game’s initial touchdown and a 7-0 Panthers lead at the 5:01 mark of the first quarter.

Spanish Springs had an answer on its next possession. The Cougars marched 80 yards on four plays for a score. The bulk of that was a 75-yard touchdown run by Dixon. The junior took an inside handoff, ran through a pair of tackles and tight-roped the sideline before running away from the Panthers’ defense for the long scoring run.

Unfortunately for Spanish Springs fans, Pelfrey’s extra-point kick failed and the local school still trailed, 7-6, with just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The Cougars go to Elko Friday.