Photo: 32 Cody Hanna scoops up the loose ball after 35 Wyatt Rewerts stripped the ball from Flagstaff quarterback 11 Chase Brown, with 30 Jake Wright and 72 Landen Francis
The Prescott Badgers were perfect through the air on the night, and amazing 18-18 as a team, capitalizing on turnovers, en route to a 58-14 thrashing of the Flagstaff Eagles in the Walkup Skydome, on the campus on Northern Arizona University, in Flagstaff.
The Badgers completely dominated a first half of football that would make any fan’s jaw drop. The Badgers rolled, but actually flew past the Eagles, with three touchdowns in the first, and five in the second, as Prescott built a 55-7 halftime lead. It was so bad for Flagstaff that when it was time for the second half to start they were still in the locker room, but did eventually resurface.
The Eagles took the opening kickoff and nickel and dimed their way with short passes inside Badger territory, but turned the ball over on downs at the 29 yard line. The Badgers went down the field and scored on a four yard run by Cody Leopold. Cole Gross started his busy night with the extra point and a 7-0 lead with 5:09 left in the opening quarter.
Photo: 42 Maurea Norris scored three touchdowns, gets a needed block from 52 Colter Fenn
Less than a minute later, Cian Mckelvey set the Badgers up with a 55 yard interception return to the Flagstaff two. Maurea Norris ran the ball in from there for a 13-0 lead, as the kick was blocked.
A three and out gave the Badgers another opportunity as Leopold scored from nine yards out and with 1:51 left in the first quarter it was suddenly 20-0.
Photo: 24 Cody Leopold and 72 Landen Francis put the pressure on quarterback 11 Chase Brown
The second quarter turned into a wild one, one that Flagstaff would like to forget. They did have one of their two shiny moments when Kaden Jensen scored on a two yard run, and with the kick by Tanner Reiff, the Prescott lead was cut to 20-7. From that point forward, the final eleven minutes was a nightmare for Flagstaff. The Badgers reeled off five touchdowns to close the half. It all started when Wyatt Rewarts stripped the ball from quarterback Chase Brown. Cody Hanna was right there to fall on the ball, and the offense took it from there. Hanna said, “We put a lot of pressure on them and were able to make some big plays early.” Jaxon Rice went through the air, connecting with Alex Vaughan who was stopped just short of the end zone at the Eagles two. Leopold scored from there to make it 27-7. Vaughan said, “The pass was right there and I was able to pick up a couple of good blocks. Nearly got the score, but Cody got it.”
The Eagles gave it right back to the Badgers as Uriah Tenette picked off a Brown pass at the Flagstaff 43. The offense moved the ball again, and Cian Mckelvey scored on a seven yard run to make it 34-7 with 8:42 left in the half. Another Brown pass was intercepted by Caden Pena who returned the ball 41 yards and what should have been a score, but a personal foul penalty moved the ball to the Eagles 17. Norris scored a couple of plays later on an 11 yard run to make it 41-7 with 6:34 left. Jaxon Rice threw his only touchdown pass of the night to Christopher Brown with 3:32 remaining on a 13 yard pass play to give Prescott a 48-7 lead. Another three and out gave the Badgers a short field, which they took advantage of. Norris blasted in from one yard out with 1:47 left to make it 55-7.
The second half went by quick with a running clock. The Badgers added their last points on a 27 yard field goal by Gross to lead 58-7 after three quarters. Flagstaff closed the game with a seven yard touchdown pass from Chase Brown to Holden Sena.
Photo: 87 Chris Brown works his way to the end zone on his TD reception
Jaxon Rice led the Badger offense , completing all seven passes for 129 yards and a touchdown. Ten different players caught passes, led by Jake Hilton and Landon Aurich with three each. Alex Vaughan pulled in two passes for 58 yards, but it was Chris Brown whose one reception went for the touchdown.
On the ground, half of Cody Leopold’s eight carries went for touchdowns, but for a season low 34 yards. Leopold leads 11-man football in the state of Arizona with 20 rushing touchdowns. Maurea Norris had 13 carries for 53 yards and two TDs. Cian Mckelvey ran for 49 yards and one touchdown.
Most of the yardage came in the first half as a running clock and running the play clock down lowered the snaps considerably.
Landen Francis impacted the decision making by Brown in the first half said, “We just came at them, and made the plays giving our offense the ball.” The senior said of the short night, “Coach told us that he didn’t want to risk any injuries and with the big lead it gave everybody a chance to contribute in the win.”
The Badgers (1-0) in Grand Canyon Region, and (5-1) overall, will make the short trip to Prescott Valley to face the upstart Bears of Bradshaw Mountain. The Bears winners of two straight, put the Grand Canyon Region on notice with a 41-0 win at Mingus. As with most rivalries,hould be a wild one. Game time set for Friday at 7pm.
PRESCOTT BADGERS 58, FLAGSTAFF EAGLES 14
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Prescott 20 35 3 0 – 58
Flagstaff 0 7 0 7 – 14
Scoring Summary
P-Leopold 4-yard run (Gross kick)
P-Norris 2-yard run (Kick blocked)
P-Leopold 9-yard run (Gross kick)
F- Jensen 2-yard run (Reiff kick)
P-Leopold 2-yard run (Gross kick)
P-Mckelvey 7-yard run (Gross kick)
P-Norris 11-yard run (Gross kick)
P-Brown 13-yard pass from Rice (Gross kick)
P-Norris 1 yard run (Gross kick)
P-Gross 27-yard Field Goal
F-Sena 7-yard pass from Brown (Soto kick)
GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS
School- W-L W-L
PRESCOTT 1-0 5-1
Lee Williams 1-0 4-2
Bradshaw Mountain 1-0 3-3
Mingus 0-1 4-2
Coconino 0-1 2-4
Flagstaff 0-1 2-4
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS SCOREBOARD
Bradshaw Mountain 41, Mingus 0
Mohave 55, Chino Valley 0
ALA-Gilbert North 31, Snowflake 21
AZ College Prep 42, Seton Catholic Prep 0
Bagdad 52, Anthem Prep 24
Camp Verde 58, NFL Yet 0
Canyon Del Oro 49, Douglas 6
Carl Hayden 57, Kofa 0
Glendale 21, Peoria 14
Independence 48, Washington 0
Lake Havasu 49, Gila Ridge 0
Lee Williams 14, Coconino 7
Mica Mountain 48, Empire 6
Marcos de Niza 24, Arcadia 10
Mogollon 55, Joseph City 0
Monument Valley 54, Blue Ridge 43
Northwest Christian 51, Greenway 12
Poston Butte 28, Apache Junction 14
River Valley 42, Wickenburg 7
Safford 26, Payson 21
St. Mary’s 27, Deer Valley 0
Thunderbird 20, Moon Valley 6
Williams 32, El Capitan 28
Youngker 28, Estrella Foothills 20
Yuma Catholic 48, Buckeye 45
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