GILA RIDGE

“Football is an emotional game,” Gila Ridge coach Corey Semler said. “You see the other team get a couple of big plays and you get to see what your team is made of, and if we’re going to answer. They were a little flustered early, but I told my guys ‘mind like water.’ If you throw a rock in the water there is going to be commotion and ripples, but eventually the water settles down.”

The Hawks turned right back around and started to work the ball on the ground behind the legs of junior Renan Duarte. That drive was capped off when junior David Randle spotted a mismatch and tossed a fade route to junior D’Angelo Garcia for a 15-yard touchdown to go up 7-6.

That’s when the turnovers began for Yuma High. The Criminals fumbled on a bad snap on their first play from scrimmage and on the next possession there was a fumble on the handoff on the third play of that drive. The first four offensive possessions for the Criminals ended in turnovers.

After the fourth turnover, Gila Ridge was finally able to capitalize with a 14yard run by Garcia, who was a spellback on Friday night. The Hawks pulled ahead 13-6 with that touchdown. Garcia finished the game with 74 total yards and two touchdowns.

Instead of turning the ball over again, the Criminals responded when sophomore running back Erick Cervantes was able to break loose down the left side of the field for an 80-yard touchdown run to put his team up 14-13 at the break.

Cervantes led Yuma High with nine carries for 124 yards and a touchdown.

Despite leading at the break, the Criminals only ran 13 plays from scrimmage in the first half.

The Hawks went on to score the final 30 points of the game starting with a methodical drive to open the half. Gila Ridge substituted junior quarterback Kaleb Cota into the game late in the second quarter. Cota struggled as the starter in the first three games of the season, but he was able to come in and jump start the offense Friday.

Cota scored on a quarterback sneak from about two inches out on fourth down to take the lead back. That momentum shift continued the rest of the night.

“This was definitely a confidence booster for him,” Semler said of Cota. “He navigated some great drives. He didn’t try to do too much. He just did what was asked of him and he did a great job.”

The Criminals fumbled again on the next drive and that opened the floodgates. Gila Ridge junior defensive lineman Devin Graham picked up that fumble and returned it six yards for a touchdown.

Gila Ridge added a 22yard rushing touchdown from Duarte and a 10-yard pass from Cota to Randle for insurance down the stretch for a 43-14 win.

“I didn’t feel like that our guys were mismatched, but we just don’t have enough (guys),” Weber said. “It’s an attrition game. A couple of plays went against us in the second half. We don’t have very many linemen. The ones I have, I can’t ask much more out of them. They are on the field the whole time. If you want to come to Yuma High, you’re going to play.”

Duarte finished with 22 carries for 160 yards and one touchdown, while Cota was 6-for-12 for 80 yards with a rushing and passing touchdown.