CRIMINALS
three touchdowns and he’s a sophomore. Alex can go up and get them with the best of them. If they’re going to double Alex, I told Jaynoah, ‘You’ve got to start getting the ball to other people.’”
Two of Medel’s touchdown passes came in critical down-and-distance situations.
Midway through the first quarter, on Yuma High’s second possession of the game, Medel lobbed the ball to the middle of the end zone on a 3rd-and-goal from the 10, and Mosqueda came down with it.
Then early in the second half, on a 4th-and-8 from the 12, Medel connected with Olson in the end zone. After that score, Yuma High’s lead was 21-6.
Kofa had kept the game close in the first half thanks to forcing a pair of turnovers, and thanks to a 42-yard touchdown pass from senior Jorey Burns to junior Eben Rico with 6:53 to play in the second quarter.
But that wound up being Kofa’s only scoring drive of the game. The Kings had turnovers on their first two possessions of the night, and also lost a fumble on a muffed punt in the second half. They turned the ball over on downs on their first three drives of the second half.
Yuma High, meanwhile, scored on three of its first five drives of the second half, eventually breaking the game open when senior
Serafin Cortez punched it in from two yards out to give the Criminals a 34-6 lead with 8:25 to play.
For the Kings, the loss gave them their second straight 0-10 season. It was the program’s 21st consecutive loss dating back to the end of the 2017 season, and that 21-game losing streak is the longest one the program’s ever suffered, per azfootballarchives.com.
But this night was about Weber and the Criminals, not Kofa’s misery.
This was Weber’s 11th season as Yuma High’s head coach, spanning three different stints. He coached the Criminals from 1992-93, again from 1997-98, and then returned in 2013. He also coached at Kofa from 1980-85.
The night began with Yuma High students, alumni and former players of Weber joining the Criminals in their traditional run onto the field behind a police car, and featured fun facts about Weber being read by the public address announcer throughout the game. It also featured a few surprises for Weber.
“Well my son and daughter-in-law flew in from Texas, which I knew, and then I’m out there pregame and my (10-year-old) grandson from Mississippi jumps on my back. I didn’t know my daughter was coming with grandkids from Mississippi.”
Weber said having the flexibility to visits his grandkids in Mississippi more often was one of the biggest reasons he decided to call it quits this season.
Weber said he will continue to serve as head coach of Yuma High’s boys basketball team, but as for the football portion of his career, that’s now over.
“It was kind of a magical night,” he said.