Gross Kicks Badgers Past Lee Williams 23-21 : Badminton Falls in Final

Photo: 24 Cody Leopold scores two more rushing touchdowns to give him 23 on the season

Varsity Football

It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win, but the Prescott Badgers will gladly take thrilling chilling 23-21 win over the Lee Williams Volunteers on a cool crisp October evening at Prescott High School.

Aided by 30 yards in penalties, the Badgers were able to get into field goal position with under a minute left. This came after Lee Williams took a 21-20 lead with 2:30 left. Prescott ended up with fourth and five at the Volunteer 23 with :48 left. Cole Gross was called and calmly kicked the ball through the uprights from 40 yards for the lead. Lee Williams had one final chance but a long pass fell incomplete in the end zone as time ran out.

The Badgers took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a pair of Cody Leopold touchdowns, both from two yards out. Lee Williams who had previous had a pair of three and outs, finally had some success. Quarterback Troy Edwards hit Devin White in stride on a 59 yard scoring strike to close out the first quarter.

Neither team had success moving the ball in the second quarter, as the defenses ruled sending the teams to halftime with the Badgers up 14-6.

Lee Williams took the second half kickoff and pulled within two on a 13 yard pass from Edwards to Reilly Feil. Once again the Volunteers could not convert on the PAT, leaving the score 14-12 with 8:47 left in the third. Lee Williams took their first lead 15-14 on a 19 yard field goal by Izaiah Orozco. Credit the Badger defense for holding to Volunteers to a field goal, after having the ball first and goal at the Badger two.

Prescott mounted a heavy run related drive, as Cian Mckelvey ran for a good portion of his 131 yards in 29 carries on the night. Cody Leopold left the game early, finishing with two touchdowns, and 54 yards on nine carries. Mckelvey would score on an 11 yard run. The two point conversion failed, leaving the Badgers up by five, 20-15 with four minutes remaining.

The Volunteers scored to take the lead again with 2:30 left on a 48 yard pass from Edwards to Feil. Another try at the two pint conversion failed, leaving Lee Williams ahead 21-20.

The Badgers would have one final drive, and they made the most of it. Two big penalties on the Volunteers kept drives alive and pushed the ball into the visitors territory. Gross would end the drama with his field goal and what would turn out to be the final score. Lee Williams had two pass completions to get just inside Badger territory, but the final four pass attempts fell incomplete.

Lee Williams was held by the Badger defense to just 53 rushing yards, but Edwards completed 16-31 for 277 yards and three touchdowns. Reilly Feil scored two TDs with nine receptions for 130 yards.

The Badgers got a big game on the ground from Cian Mckelvey, who rushed for 131 yards on 29 carries, with a fourth quarter touchdown. Prescott quarterback Jaxon Rice completed 11-18 for 80 yards. Seven different receivers caught passes with Jake Hilton and Uriah Tenette having three a piece. Ruben Solano caught a pair.

The win improves the Badgers to (6-2) overall, (2-1) in the Grand Canyon Region. Prescott will host Coconino on Friday at 7 pm. Lee Williams falls to (2-1) and (5-3) overall, and will host Mingus in Kingman, on Friday at 7pm.

PRESCOTT BADGERS 23, LEE WILLIAMS VOLUNTEERS 21

Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T

Lee Williams 6 0 9 6 – 21

Prescott 14 0 0 9 – 23

Scoring Summary

P-Leopold 2 yard run (Gross kick)

LW-White 59 yard pass from Edwards (Run failed)

LW-Feil 13 yard pass from Edwards (Kick failed)

LW-Orosco 19 yard Field Goal

P-Mckelvey 11 yard run (Run failed)

LW-Edwards 48 yard pass to Feil (Pass failed)

P- Gross 40 yard Field Goal

GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS

School- W-L W-L

Bradshaw Mountain 3-0 5-3

PRESCOTT 2-1 6-2

Lee Williams 2-1 5-3

Coconino 1-2 3-5

Mingus 1-2 5-3

Flagstaff 0-3 2-6

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS SCOREBOARD

Bradshaw Mountain 27, Coconino 14

Yuma 52, Chino Valley 0

ALA-Gilbert North 35, Apache Junction 21

Camp Verde 56, Cortez 26

Canyon Del Oro 56, Vista Grande 13

Carl Hayden 65, Alhambra 12

Central 34, Maricopa 25

Lake Havasu 55, Peoria 7

Mica Mountain 22, Pueblo 14

Mingus 28, Flagstaff 15

Mohave 44, Kingman 22

Payson 42, Phoenix Christian 0

Poston Butte 39, Marcos de Niza 11

Snowflake 42, Benjamin Franklin 0

St. David 70, Bagdad 26

St. Mary’s 41, Greenway 14

Thunderbird 30, Trevor Browne 7

Williams 67, Salome 0

Youngker 7, Sierra Linda 6

Badminton

Photo: Senior Breckyn Tubbs in her semifinal match

The Badgers were upset by Arizona College Prep 5-3 at Desert Vista High School in the AIA Division 2 championship. Prescott beat the Knights at home 6-3 earlier in the season, but Arizona College Prep got their revenge with the championship victory. Prescott ends as state runner-up with a (17-1) record. The Knights also end the season at (17-1).