ROUNDUP
points in the final three minutes against a Southwest (Calif.) team that had already beat Cibola, Yuma High and Kofa this year.
The Eagles (5-0 overall) scored twice in the last three minutes of the game and wound up with a 38-14 win at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Friday, but Gila Ridge coach Tyler Kosel was mostly pleased with the effort.
“We played assignmentsharp football and made tackles, and did things that have been our Achilles’ heel all season,” Kosel said over the phone. “Our guys played a great game tonight.”
“It was a gritty game,” Kosel later added. “The scoreboard didn’t really indicate what it was.”
The score was tied at 7-7 going into the third quarter. Chance Morland had a 1-yard touchdown run in the first half. Morland finished with 39 yards on 11 carries.
The Hawks’ (1-5 overall) second touchdown was a 47-yard pass from AJ Juarez to Dareyon Taylor. Juarez was 9-for-22 for 89 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Juarez, a junior transfer from Antelope who was required to miss the first five games, took the majority of snaps at quarterback Friday.
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Taylor, who started under center in the first half of the season, had 44 yards on four carries and 57 receiving yards on four receptions.
Gila Ridge was playing without nine of its 22 starters in the game. Kosel said the team started to wear down in the second half.
The Hawks will open 4A Southwest Region play Friday at Buckeye Union.
Copper Canyon 58, Kofa 0
Kofa’s two-game winning streak came to an end in decisive fashion Friday, as visiting Copper Canyon dominated from whistle (13-0 first-quarter lead) to whistle (scored on game’s final snap) in what was just the Kings’ second game against a fellow 6A school.
The Kings (5-2 overall), who were bottled up all night by the Aztecs’ defense and struggled to contain the Aztecs’ balanced offensive attack, trailed 33-0 at the half.
Kofa has a bye next week before playing Cibola in two weeks.