I couldn't make it to Chandler High's first defense of its Division I football crown Thursday night at Pinnacle High. Late appointment prevented arriving on time so I settled for a final night at home before another crunch of prep sports fills my days/nights for the next nine months.

As luck would have it, I found the game was going to be streamed live by Pinnacle. Thought I'd check it out and at least get a distant view of the Wolves and Pioneers.

Not.

Pinnacle High's internet system was not operational and hence no live stream. That wasn't the only glitch for Pinnacle. Pinnacle's team had its share of problems -- mainly youth and Chandler every bit as good as advertised that's going to cause fits for more than just the Pioneers.

Chandler senior running back Chase Lucas bolted 80 yards on the first play from scrimmage and the Wolves went on to tally 28 points in the opening quarter en route to a 56-10 thrashing of Pinnacle at Pinnacle High. The victory was the 11th in a row for Chandler dating back to last year's 13-1 title campaign. In rebuilding Pinnacle's defense, the juggernaut Chandler brings to the field will be tough for most teams to crack given the wealth of experience it returns, particularly on offense. An example of Pinnacle's youth was its starting quarterback, Spencer Rattler, a freshman.

Everything went right from the get-go for Chandler, according to the twitter folks. After Lucas made it 7-0 seconds into the contest, the Wolves defense forced a punt. Lucas made sure special teams weren't left out of the fast start as he returned a punt to the Pinnacle 40. A five-play drive, capped by new QB Mason Moran's 10-yard TD run, made it 14-0 with less than four minutes gone in the quarter.

With just more than six minutes gone in the opening period, Chandler added a third score with Moran dumping a short throw to wide out Kolby Taylor . Taylor escaped a couple tackles and completed a 40-yard TD reception for a 21-0 advantage. The quick-strike Wolves capped the opening period with a 30-yard TD run from Anthony Clay.

It was a solid debut for Moran, a senior who played safety on defense the last two years waiting his turn to call the signals. Moran ran the option well and may not need to heave long throws to amass some hefty passing stats with the likes of Taylor and N'Keal Harry at receiver. Moran accounted for four of Chandler's seven TDs, adding a 25-yard TD run early in the second period that made it 35-0 and a 48-yard TD strike to Harry in the third period.

Chandler made the second half go by a little faster with a defensive score on the first play of the second half. Isiah Swann's second pick of the game was good for a 30-yard return and resulted in a 42-0 lead and the beginning of a running clock (42-point rule) for about half the third quarter. Pinnacle got on the board  midway through the third quarter on a field goal by Jeff McGuire. The Pioneers added their TD on fourth-quarter run by William Zupke.

Chandler certainly will be tested next week -- Saturday Aug. 29--  when it visits Las Vegas to face Nevada and national power Bishop Gorman. Bishop Gorman was unbeaten last year and brings a 24-game winning streak to the contest. It will be the Gaels season-opener and debut for new coach Kenny Sanchez. Kenny Sanchez was an assistant the last several years under brother, Tony Sanchez. Tony Sanchez left Bishop Gorman last December to become head coach at UNLV.