No. 5 AWC beats No. 6 Snow on last-minute FG
Cibola’s Claudio the hero after connecting from 20 yards out in final seconds
The No. 5-ranked Arizona Western football team staged a late comeback to knock off No. 6 Snow, 29-27, in Ephraim, Utah, on Saturday.
Freshman kicker Gabriel Claudio, from Cibola, booted a game-winning, 20-yard field goal with less than 30 seconds remaining with the Matadors (4-0 overall, 3-0 WSFL) trailing by one. The Badgers (5-1, 2-1) had taken the lead after scoring touchdown just minutes earlier.
“I’m not one to kick,” AWC coach Tom Minnick said in a phone interview after the game. “I’m scared to death of
4-0 overall, 3-0 WSFL 5-1 overall, 2-1 WSFL
kicking field goals. But our kicker from Yuma has ice in his veins. He did a great job kicking it through.”
Quarterback Bryce Perkins, who had by far his best career start, had moved the Matadors down the field into field goal range in the final minute.
Perkins finished the game 32 of 45 passing for 375 yards and two touchdowns — both to receiver Steffon McKnight, who had five receptions for 129 yards on the night.
“Bryce had one hell of a game,” Minnick said. “He was accurate, and he did a great job hitting the receivers and working the ball down the field. I don’t know the last time we threw for 375 yards and couldn’t rush very well.”
Tight end Dominick WoodAnderson had 13 catches for 95 yards, while receiver Jaron Woodyard also had a big game with eight catches for 97 yards. That production helped make up for an offnight by the Matadors’ rushing attack — though Perkins had 59 yards on 10 carries, star running back Greg Bell was held to just 38 yards on 20 totes.
Backup quarterback Jack Colletto actually had AWC’s first touchdown, a short rushing score early in the second quarter. That gave the Matadors, whose only first-quarter points came via safety, a 9-7 lead.
Claudio hit a 31-yard field goal late in the first half to give AWC a 12-7 advantage heading into halftime.
After back-to-back Snow touchdowns gave the Badgers a 21-12 lead midway through the third quarter, Perkins and McKnight connected for their first score — an 11-yarder that cut the deficit to 21-19. Early in the fourth, those two hooked up again, this time from 93 yards to give AWC a 26-21 lead.
That was all the scoring until the final minutes, when Snow’s touchdown was followed by AWC’s game-winning drive.
“We went through a lot of adversity up here,” Minnick said. “We knew it was going to be a hard game to win up here, because it’s always hard. It seems like you’re playing more than the team. The kids played through it, played hard, kept battling back, got things right and away with the win.”