Brawley stops Cibola

For a while it was real nip-and-tuck there in Brawley.

The Wildcats ended up winning 35-25, but Cibola wouldn’t let them get comfortable until midway through the fourth quarter when Brawley was finally able to shift the game off the 28-25 score it had been stuck on since halftime.

The first half had been a very back-and-forth affair.

Brawley struck first before allowing two straight Cibola scores to find themselves down 13-7.

Then, with about 10 minutes to go in the second quarter the Wildcats swung things back around, running one in and nailing the PAT to make it 1413.

After that, in what may have been the play of the game, Brawley blocked a Cibola punt and took it to the house which, after the kick, increased their advantage to 21-13.

The two teams traded TDs the rest of the half, leaving the Wildcats with a slim, three-point lead, owing mostly to Cibola’s inability to convert on points after.

In the second half, the game, which had been something of a shootout previously, devolved into a defensive struggle.

Brawley effectively boxed Cibola out, controlling the ball for most of the final two frames and keeping them well away from the goal line, making their small lead stand up, until they finally were able to stretch it out in the fourth.

Speaking the day after, Brawley Head Coach Jon Self was blunt in his assessment of game, saying, “It wasn’t exciting, but it was a win.”

The Wildcats will take that win. They’ll also be taking a week off, resting up before their next date, in which they travel to Imperial to kick off their Imperial Valley League season. That game is on Sept. 28 and is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.