Emphatic statement
No. 2 Matadors dominate Scottsdale in all facets to finish regular season 9-0
The errant, low shotgun snap bounced through the third-string quarterback’s legs but was swiftly scooped up by the fourth-string running back, who promptly burst through a hole and made a couple Scottsdale defenders miss.
The only surprising thing about the play — which came with about a minute left on a day in which everything went right for the No. 2 Arizona Western football team — was that Damon Williams didn’t go all the way, instead having to settle measly 35-yard gain.
From starters to backups, from highly regarded prospects to unheralded hopefuls, from the offensive guys to the defensive guys, just about everybody wearing a Matador uniform got in on the fun during AWC’s 66-14 demolition of No. 19 Scottsdale at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The win gave the Matadors (9-0 overall, 7-0 Western States Football League) their second straight undefeated regular season, and surely locks up a spot in the NJCAA national championship game.
The Matadors probably didn’t
need to win with style points, but they were out to make a statement anyways.
“We wanted to let people know we’re the No. 1 team, no matter what anyone says,” said linebacker Ismael Richardson, who scored one of AWC’s two defensive touchdowns by taking a third-quarter interception 82 yards the other way.
“I feel like we should be No. 1,” defensive end Azur Kamara concurred. “I mean the scoreboard can tell you that.”
The stats were maybe even more impressive than the score.
The Matadors, who scored at least two touchdowns in every quarter, racked up 702 yards of total offense — which is 56 more than any previous AWC team had gained in a game since Tom Minnick became coach in 2008. And they racked up 464 rushing yards, also a singlegame record under Minnick.
“I’ll give it to my offensive line,” said running back Dejhion Parrish, who ran for 186 yards and two touchdowns.
“We just kept pounding it,” added 139-yard rusher Greg Bell, “waiting until something popped.”
That happened often. The Matadors had four touchdown runs of at least 50 yards, including a 66-yarder by Bell on the game’s second snap from scrimmage and an 81-yarder by Parrish not three minutes later.
“I’m really thankful they’re on our team,” defensive end Tyrik Jones said of AWC’s backfield, which also got a 93-yard day out of third-stringer Ali Kelley.
And those offensive guys probably feel the same way about their defensive teammates.
Scottsdale quarterback Grayson Barry entered the game as the conference’s second-leading passer, but was limited to just 78 yards through the air Saturday before being benched with the game well out of hand.
That was far more success than the Artichokes’ (6-4, 3-4) backfield had, though — SCC totaled negative-9 yards on the ground, the first time AWC has kept a conference opponent out of the positives in that department in at least six years.
Minnick said he’d actually go with the defense when asked to pick which of his unit’s were more impressive.
“They got lucky with two bombs,” Minnick said in reference to 58- and 60-yard touchdowns SCC backup quarterback I’Zjaier Sanders threw to Khaliq Muhammad in the second half. “We should’ve had a shutout.”
Those two touchdown plays accounted for nearly twothirds of SCC’s 186 yards of total offense on the day.
The Artichokes didn’t pick up their first first-down until the final minute of the first half, and then turned the ball over on their first three possessions of the second half — first Richardson’s pick-six, then a Bryce Beekman interception, then an 11-yard scoop-and-score by Jones to extended AWC’s lead to 52-0 with still 10:21 still to play in the second quarter.
“I always love watching the defensive touchdowns, because they don’t happen regularly,” said AWC quarterback Bryce Perkins, who had an efficient day himself (15 of 17, 171 yards).
In all, eight different players got into the end zone for the Matadors — including receiver Jaron Woodyard on a 20-yard reception from Bell on a halfback pass, Kelley (52-yard run) and receiver Chyrome Thorpe (16-yard reception from Jack Colletto, who also had a rushing score).
Now the Matadors will wait until Monday to learn where they end up in the final regular-season poll. No. 1 East Mississippi beat No. 4 Northwest Mississippi in double overtime on Saturday, meaning an EMCC vs. AWC championship game in the Mississippi Bowl is the most likely scenario.
“We’ve played pretty well lately,” Minnick said. “We’ve just got to finish.”