GILA RIDGE
the first-down marker, and Gila Ridge players erupted from both field of play and sideline.
One of those seniors on the field for Gila Ridge was defensive end Rafael Duarte, a multi-year starter and the on- and off-the-field leader for this team.
“It means a lot,” sophomore running back Renan Duarte said, after sharing an emotional moment with Rafael, his older brother. “It’s my final year with my brother, and I just wanted to … send him off with a win. I’m going to miss him.”
It was the seniors who ended it, but one of those many sophomore starters, defensive end Taylor Deibert, helped get them there. Deibert had two huge sacks on the final offensive possession for the Criminals (2-8, 0-4 4A Southwest), including one to make it third-and-13 two plays before the final stand.
“Taylor Deibert was huge,” Semler said. “He kind of stole the show there at the end, but there was nothing more that kid wanted than to see the seniors out the right way because … he’s our sophomore on the D-line, and the rest are seniors and they’re all best friends.”
On the other end of the field, Yuma High coach Curt Weber saw a little extra out of his team Friday, but the end result was still the team’s eighth consecutive loss.
“The problem is, you’re down 28-7, then you come back … but it’s not enough,” Weber said. “I’ve got to applaud the effort of the boys; I’m very proud of them. A lot of people around town don’t give our guys much hope for anything, don’t give our school much hope for anything. To me, (Friday’s result) sends a message that the Criminals aren’t going away anytime soon.”
The way the first quarter-and-a-half played out showed little evidence that the Criminals would even be in that position.
The opening drive of the game was a seven-minute, 14-play possession that ended with Renan Duarte scoring from 3 yards out. Duarte led the charge on offense, totaling 80 yards on 20 carries.
After a Yuma High threeand-out, there were three touchdowns scored in only four offensive plays. The Hawks’ next play was a 44yard pass from freshman Joseph Palmer to senior receiver Joel Adetiba. Yuma High then countered with a 57-yard pass from Isaac Ignacio to Tyler Hamilton. Palmer connected with Ty DeHart for a 71-yard score right after, and the score went from 7-0 to 21-7 in 71 seconds.
Palmer got his third touchdown of the night midway through the second quarter, an 11-yard pass to David Randle to make it 287, which is what the score read heading into halftime.
“To be able to mix it up and actually put the ball in the air is nice,” Semler said.
An odd sequence of plays midway through the third quarter started to edge the Criminals in the right direction. Tevon Pauldon had a guaranteed kickreturn touchdown that he gave away by taunting the Gila Ridge player chasing him and stepping out of bounds because he was not looking forward. The Criminals failed to score on their possession from the 4-yard line. But Gila Ridge running back Ty Moreno fumbled on the next possession, giving Yuma High a short field to set up a 1-yard touchdown run for Isaiah Joya.
Yuma High made it a seven-point game late in the third quarter on a 15-yard pass from Ignacio to Hamilton. Following an Esteban Franco 20-yard field goal for the Hawks put the Hawks back up by 10 points, Hamilton and Ignacio again connected in the end zone, this time on a 7-yard pass. Hamilton wound up with five receptions for 107 yards and three touchdowns, and the third score brought the score to 31-28.
“(Hamilton is) a smart kid, he works really hard, he’s a good athlete, he’s a solid guy and he knows the game,” Weber said. “That’s the one thing that I’m a little disappointed about in youth — they don’t know the game; they watch on the video screen, but they don’t know the game. He knows the game.”
Weber, the longtime Yuma High football coach, is beginning his tenure as boys basketball coach today when he travels to a state meeting at Pinnacle High School, and then practice begins Monday.
Weber is unsure whether he will return to coaching football, saying, “I’m going to see how the schedule sets up, see where we’re at and see how basketball season goes.”