Photo: 1 Cian Mckelvey rushed for 204 yards and four touchdowns in the Badgers win at Mingus
Cian Mckelvey scored four touchdowns to lead the Prescott Badgers to a 55-7 thrashing over the Mingus Marauders in Cottonwood.
The game was close on the scoreboard early, but on the field it was a domination by the Badgers. Mckelvey scored the only touchdown of the first quarter on a three yard run with 7:55 on the clock. Mckelvey would score the second Prescott TD as well on a 2 yard run, for a 14-0 lead a minute plus into the second quarter. The highlight of the game for Mingus came on a fumble return by Mario Camacho for a 60 yard return for a score. It didn’t take the Badgers too long to build a 28-7 halftime lead on a pair of touchdown runs by Cody Leopold, giving the senior 25 on the season, passing Austin Clark who had 24 in 2018. Leopold would carry the ball one more time to finish with 28 yards. Mckelvey had a busy first half with 162 yards and the two scores, would end his night with 204 yards on 28 carries.
Meanwhile it was a very tough night for the Marauders on their home turf. Quarterback Mario Camacho completed just two of eleven passes for 29 yards. The running backs did not fare any better. Makai Arnaudo and Brasen Durkalet were held to a combined 61 yards on the night, thanks to a very active Badger defense. Mingus as a team finished with just 71 yards of total offense. Led by Cody Hanna’s nine tackles and Landen Francis with a sack and six tackles, Prescott forced nine plays for loss of yardage. Jake Wright, Ryan Smith and Mckelvey were also instrumental in keeping Mingus off balance.
Prescott would score only once in the third quarter on Mckelvey’s third TD, but the Marauders could not get any offensive rhythm at all. The final three scores of the game came by Mckelvey (4 yard run), Maurea Norris (6 yard run) and a 11 yard TD pass from Jaxon Rice to Levi Vandyke. Rice had a very good night completing 14 of 19 for 180 yards and the touchdown. Jake Hilton led all receivers with seven catches for 94 yards. Norris had a busy second half with 17 carries for 62 yards. The Badgers offense ended up 542 of total yards, with 362 rushing and 180 passing .
Prescott (8-2) will be on the road again next Friday for a first round playoff matchup with Apache Junction. Bradshaw Mountain will host Northwest Christian in a first round game. No other GCR teams made the cut. Walden Grove, region champ at (5-0) in the Gila Region, and (8-2) overall, just missed out via the AIA power point system. The final spot went to (5-5) Arizona College Prep that finished fourth with a (1-3) record in the Desert Sky Region. ACP was the number one team in the 4A region on October 18, but lost their final four games, dropping them to number sixteen. This included a 47-7 loss to ALA-Gilbert North, the Knights first round opponent next Friday.
PRESCOTT BADGERS 55, MINGUS MARAUDERS 7
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Prescott 7 21 7 20 – 55
Mingus 0 7 0 0 – 7
Scoring Summary
P-Mckelvey 3 yard run (Gross kick)
P-Mckelvey 2 yard run (Gross kick)
M-Camacho 60 yard fumble return (Camacho kick)
P-Leopold 5 yard run (Gross kick)
P-Leopold 5 yard run (Gross kick)
P-Mckelvey 1 yard run (Gross kick)
P-Mckelvey 4 yard run (Kick failed)
P-Norris 6 yard run (Gross kick)
P-Van Dyke 11 yard pass from Rice (Gross kick)
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS SCOREBOARD
Bradshaw Mountain 35, Lee Williams 10
Apache Junction 28, Benjamin Franklin 21
Arcadia 21, Combs 14, OT
Buckeye 42, Peoria 21
Cactus 20, Desert Edge 14
Central 27, Camelback 19
Coconino 82, Flagstaff 0
Lake Havasu 63, Deer Valley 21
Maryvale 18, Washington 12
Marcos de Niza 57, Arizona College Prep 14
Mica Mountain 26, Canyon Del Oro 7
Northwest Christian 42, Glendale 35
Snowflake 35, Seton Catholic Prep 6
Thunderbird 52, Estrella Foothills 22
Yuma Catholic 31, St. Mary’s 28
3A Playoffs
Eastmark 42, Sabino 28
Pusch Ridge 44, Round Valley 0
Show Low 77, Paradise Honors 42
Thatcher 56, Valley Christian 35
2A Playoffs
Morenci 52, Tonopah Valley 6
Pima 61, Camp Verde 7
Scottsdale Christian 53, Gilbert Christian 28
Willcox 51, Holbrook 12
1A FINALS
#4 Williams (10-1) vs. #3 Mogollon (9-2) at Coronado HS, Scottsdale, 6pm
GRAND CANYON REGION FINAL STANDINGS
School- W-L W-L
Bradshaw Mountain 5-0 7-3
PRESCOTT 4-1 8-2
Lee Williams 3-2 6-4
Coconino 2-3 4-6
Mingus 1-4 5-5
Flagstaff 0-5 2-8
4A PLAYOFFS-First Round
#10 PRESCOTT (8-2) at #7 Apache Junction (7-3)
#9 Northwest Christian (8-2) at #8 Bradshaw Mountain (7-3)
#16 Arizona College Prep (5-5) at #1 ALA-Gilbert North (8-2)
#12 Buckeye (7-3) at #5 Yuma Catholic (8-2)
#14 Thunderbird (8-2) at #3 Marcos de Niza (9-1)
#13 Lake Havasu (7-3) at #4 Poston Butte (6-4)
#11 St. Mary’s (7-3) at #6 Canyon Del Oro (8-2)
#15 Arcadia (6-4) at #2 Snowflake (7-3)
