Photo: 24 Cody Leopold scored two touchdowns, along with 13 tackles in the win
Varsity Football
The Badgers opened up the season with a good road win over the Glendale Cardinals. It was a hot evening (around the triple digit) to start the season, but it did not seem to bother “The Mile High Boys”.
Glendale went (5-1) last year in the COVID shortened season, with no playoff appearance, and graduating most, if not all of their skilled position players. The Badgers went (4-4) in 2020, that ended with a playoff loss at Cactus.
The Badgers kicked off to start the season and pinned the Cardinals on their brand new turf, at their own 13 yard line.
Badger punt returner Cervando Vega set the Prescott offense up inside the Glendale 35, but the offense sputtered failing on a fourth down pass play at the Cardinals 23.
The Prescott defense forced a second punt, but a great punt by Zechariah Owens, also their quarterback, pinned the Badgers back to their own 14 midway through the opening quarter. A pair of penalties set Prescott back to their own 4. This motivated the Glendale defense, forcing the first Badger punt of the night.
Having a short field did not benefit Glendale, as Zechariah Owens coughed up the ball while spinning during his carry of the ball. The fumble was recovered by Carlos Valdez-Lopez at the Badger 21.
Adding to their newfound momentum, Badger QB Alex Vaughan aired it out to Jacob Hilton for 79 yards, and the first touchdown of the season.
On the ensuing kickoff though, Junior Dukulay returned the ball 88 yards to tie the game. Padilla added the PAT, and Glendale had a 7-6 lead.
Prescott came back and moved the ball down to the Glendale 5, but on fourth and goal, a fake field goal call saw kicker Cole Gross take the snap and run, but was stopped well short of the goal line.
The Badgers took the lead as Cervando Vega kicked a 40 yard punt return after a quick three and out as the Badger defense continued to dominate.
Cody Leopold, coming off last season with 9 touchdowns and 689 yards rushing, scored his first of the season on a 5 yard run with 5:16 minutes in second. Gross added the kick to make it 20-7.
The Cardinals had a golden opportunity to cut the deficit just before halftime, but Landen Francis literally took the ball out of the hands of Glendale running back Keyon Walker inside the Badger 10 yard line. The teams went into halftime with Prescott on top 20-7.
Prescott took the second half kickoff, and extended their lead by 20 after going the length of the field, capped off by a Cody Leopold 15 yard touchdown run. Gross added the extra point and it was 27-7 with just under 9 minutes left in the third quarter.
Landen Francis came up with his second takeaway of the game on a pass interception, setting the Badgers up at the Glendale 29. Nothing came of the good field position, but the Badgers would get yet another takeaway, as Cervando Vega picked off Glendale’s sophomore QB Zecheriah Owens pass, returning it all the back to the Cardinals 40.
The Prescott offense failed to capitalize again, giving the ball back to Glendale with just over nine minutes to play. Glendale finally got some rhythm in their offense, but Owens coughed up the ball a second time, this time inside the Badger 40.
The Glendale offense finally had some success as Keyon Walker bolted up the middle from 30 yards out with 5:09 remaining in the game. The two point conversion failed, leaving the score 27-13, and that is how it ended.
Despite allowing the late touchdown, the Badger “D” played inspired football, creating turnovers, and sacks, basically wreaking havoc for the Glendale offense. Leading the charge were Cody Leopold, Cody Hanna, Ryan Smith and Landen Francis. The four combined for 34 tackles, 4 sacks, and 3 turnovers.
The Badgers (1-0) will host Camelback (0-1) next Friday at 7 pm. Glendale (0-1) will host Gila Ridge at 7 pm on Thursday.
PRESCOTT BADGERS 27, GLENDALE CARDINALS 13
Score by Quarters – 1 2 3 4 – T
Prescott 6 14 7 0 – 27
Glendale 7 0 0 6 – 13
Scoring Summary
P-Hilton 79 yard pass from Vaughan (Kick failed)
G-Dukulay 88 yard kickoff return (Padilla kick)
P-Vega 40 yard punt return (Gross kick)
P-Leopold 5 yard run (Gross kick)
P-Leopold 15 yard run (Gross kick)
G-Walker 30 yard run (Pass failed)
SETON CATHOLIC SENTINELS 29, BRADSHAW MOUNTAIN BEARS 19
Score by Quarters – 1 2 3 4 – T
Bradshaw Mountain 6 0 6 7 – 19
Seton Catholic 0 6 15 8 – 29
Scoring Summary
BM-Ricketts 20 yard run (Kick failed)
SC- Castro 4 yard pass from Morris (Kick failed)
SC-Castro 31 yard pass from Morris (Castro run)
BM-Acuna 3 yard run (Run failed)
SC- Kubasak 10 yard pass from Morris (Alexander kick)
BM-Ricketts 5 yard run (Kick good)
SC- Castro 11 yard pass from Morris (Castro run)
FRIDAY NIGHT SCOREBOARD
Prescott 27, Glendale 13
Seton Catholic 29, Bradshaw Mountain 19
Phoenix Christian 29, Chino Valley 21
Mayer 26, PDSD 8
St. David 62, Bagdad 6
Salome 34, Joseph City 20
Cactus 56, Mesquite 6
Flagstaff 26, Camelback 7
Central 26, North 20
Blue Ridge 28, Kingman 14
Holbrook 19, Camp Verde 8
Northwest Christian 18, Lee Williams 13
Thunderbird 48, Mingus 25
Williams 58, Hayden 44
Badminton
The Badgers remained unbeaten on the season with a 9-0 sweep, over the previously unbeaten Cactus Cobras, in Phoenix. Prescott (3-0) will host Shadow Mountain on Thursday, at 4pm. Cactus falls to (2-1).
Singles Results
#1 Elle Long won 2-0 over Shealyn Beaumont 21-7, 21-9
#2 Megan Townsend won 2-0 over Megan Peabody 21-6, 21-4
#3 Nicole Raiss won 2-0 over Sariah Stone 21-7, 21-8
#4 Riley Crockett won 2-0 over Kennedy Wright 21-9, 21-9
#5 Lauren Farley won 2-0 over Angel Garcia 21-11, 21-13
#6 Calli Naylor won 2-0 over Eliza Mathews 21-11, 21-11
Doubles Results
#1 R. Crockett/N. Raiss won 2-0 over M. Peabody/S. Beaumont 21-16, 21-15
#2 M. Townsend/E. Long won 2-0 over K. Wright/A. Garcia 21-8, 21-8
#3 C. Naylor/L. Farley won 2-0 over S. Stone/B. Ferguson 21-13, 21-13
