Photo : 50 Menno Dow, 42 Caleb Fox, 13 Rutger Funk, and 56 Gunnar Parra bring down the Mohave ball carrier
Prescott at Mohave
Mohave quarterback Joe Yoney threw for 220 yards and four touchdowns, rushed for two more, and capped it off with a fourth quarter pick-six in the Thunderbirds 63-28 win over the Prescott Badgers at the Anderson Fieldhouse in Bullhead City.
Photo: 2 Gio Pugliese returned as the starting quarterback and had an amazing first half with three touchdown passes
The Badgers came out and scored two quick touchdowns in just five offensive plays to lead 14-0 with 9:09 left in the opening quarter. Gio Pugliese returned at quarterback and connected with Kenny Miller-Terry on a 61 yard pass play and Jacob Chamberlain blasted in from six yard out.
Mohave seemed unfazed by the quick deficit and Joe Yoney settled in and started making passes to open receivers and hit Nathaniel Villarreal for his first TD pass nearly six minutes into the game. Villarreal had a big night catching 13 passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns.
The momentum clearly switched when the Badgers up 14-7 elected to go for it on fourth and one at their own 30, and were stuffed by the Thunderbirds D, giving the ball back to Mohave with a short field. Three plays later Yoney went off tackle from two yards out and the game was tied at 14.
Prescott began spinning their wheels so to speak with penalties that began to mount up. The Badgers turned the ball over on downs a second consecutive time at their own 45.
Villarreal scored again on a 25 yard pass from Yoney and Mohave had their first lead at 21-14 early in the second quarter.
Photo: 11 Kenny Miller-Terry on his way with his third touchdown reception of the first half
The Badgers went for it on another fourth down and were successful this time. Pugliese threw a pass to Miller-Terry who broke through three defenders for 28 yards and the game was knotted at 21.
Prescott had the ball again late in the first half and attempted another fourth down play at their own 43. After calling a timeout, the Badgers dialed up a 57 yard scoring strike from Pugliese to Miller-Terry, their third connection of the game, and Prescott led 28-21. A taunting penalty on the receiver on his way into the end zone proved costly though. Less than a minute later Yoney threw a pass to Alejandro Ruiz to tie the game heading into halftime 28-28.
Photo: Mohave quarterback Joe Yoney gets sacked by 13 Rutger Funk and 50 Menno Dow
Early in the third the Badgers punished the Thunderbird ball carriers with some hard hits. On the kickoff return Menno Dow used a vicious bear hug to bring down the returner, and then it was Dow and Rutger Funk who crushed Joe Yoney that left the Thunderbirds QB a bit dazed and confused. Yoney was able to gather himself and stayed in the game. One of many pass interference penalties came on a third and 19, extending the drive that eventually led to Mohave taking the lead 35-28.
Photo: 56 Gunnar Parra and 24 Noble Ortega close in on running back 24 Jeremiah Huerta-Perez
Things continued to unravel for the Badgers from there as Pugliese would be under a lot more pressure and picked off a total of three times, two leading to pick sixes as the Thunderbirds blew out Prescott 35-0 in the second half. Penalties continued to mount as well and the offense sputtered at best.
Gunnar Parra said, “We would make a good play and then a penalty. It seemed like it went that way the whole game. The pass interference calls were really big for them and hurt us and we just could not overcome that. There were definitely some big hits out there and we’re just trying to get pressure on their QB.” Asked what was discussed after the game team gathering, Parra added, “Coach said that we just have to be better, and he is right, we have to.”
The Badgers loss really hurts their playoff chances as they fall to (1-2) in the Grand Canyon Region, (3-3) overall. Prescott will travel to Flagstaff on Friday to face Coconino while Mohave will play Flagstaff at the NAU Walkup Skydome. Kickoff for both games is at 7pm.
MOHAVE THUNDERBIRDS 63, PRESCOTT BADGERS 28
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Prescott 14 14 0 0 – 28
Mohave 14 14 14 21 – 63
Scoring Summary
P- Miller-Terry 61 yard pass from Pugliese (Costes kick)
P-Chamberlain 6 yard run (Costes kick)
M-Villarreal 9 yard pass from Yoney (Ruiz kick)
M-Yoney 2 yard run (Ruiz kick)
M-Villarreal 25 yard pass from Yoney (Ruiz kick)
P- Miller-Terry 28 yard pass from Pugliese (Costes kick)
P- Miller-Terry 57 yard pass from Pugliese (Costes kick)
M-Ruiz 24 yard pass from Yoney (Ruiz kick)
M-Yoney 2 yard run (Ruiz kick)
M-Villarreal 5 yard pass from Yoney (Ruiz kick)
M-Perez 4 yard run (Ruiz kick)
M-Yoney 70 yard pass interception return (Run failed)
Flagstaff at Bradshaw Mountain
Kylin Jackson scored three second half touchdowns setting a new school record for the Bears and quarterback Michael Sanford rushed for a pair of touchdowns and threw for two more to lead the Bradshaw Mountain Bears to a 49-6 win over Flagstaff.
Sanford was involved in all the scoring in the first half and Jackson did all his damage in the second half.
Flagstaff has hit rock bottom after losing their starting quarterback Chase Brown three games ago and has really struggled to maintain any kind of offense. The Eagles’ only touchdown came after being down 21-0 in the second quarter when Zeke Jim caught a touchdown pass from AJ Valdez.
Next week, the Bears (3-0) in region and (4-2) overall will play Lee Williams (2-0), (5-1) in Kingman for a really big game in a battle of two of the three undefeated teams left in the Grand Canyon Region. Kickoff at 7pm.
BRADSHAW MOUNTAIN BEARS 49, FLAGSTAFF EAGLES 6
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Flagstaff 0 6 0 0 – 6
Bradshaw Mountain 14 14 14 7 – 49
BM-Sanford 1 yard run (Womble kick)
BM-Sanford 70 yard run (Womble kick)
BM-Dabney 12 yard pass from Sanford (Womble kick)
F-Jim 12 yard pass from Valdez (Run failed)
BM-Jones 13 yard pass from Sanford (Womble kick)
BM-Jackson 45 yard run (Womble kick)
BM-Jackson 40 yard run (Womble kick)
BM-Jackson 53 yard run (Womble kick)
Chino Valley at Bourgade Catholic
The Cougars lost a tough battle at Bourgade Catholic 21-14 in Phoenix.
Chino Valley led 8-7 at the half, but trailed 21-6 midway through the final quarter before getting to one score.
The lost drops the Cougars to (1-2) in the Metro 3 Region and (4-3) overall.
BOURGADE CATHOLIC GOLDEN EAGLES 21, CHINO VALLEY COUGARS 14
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Chino Valley 8 0 0 6 – 14
Bourgade Catholic 7 0 7 7 – 21
Scoring Summary
BC-Touchdown run (Kick good)
CV-Touchdown pass (Run good)
BC-Touchdown run (Kick good)
BC-Touchdown run (Kick good)
CV-Touchdown pass (Run failed)
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS SCOREBOARD
Mohave 63, Prescott 28
Bradshaw Mountain 49, Flagstaff 6
Bourgade Catholic 21 Chino Valley 14
Arcadia 37, Combs 0
Bagdad 50, Mohave Accelerated 0
Camp Verde 55, Holbrook 20
Lake Havasu 44, Buckeye 28
Chaparral 45, Deer Valley 21
Coconino 34, Mingus 0
Desert Sunrise 53, La Joya Community 13
El Capitan 1, Mayer 0, Forfeit
Fountain Hills 36, ALA-Anthem South 6
Gila Ridge 56, Yuma 0
Greenway 28, Tempe 21
Hayden 51, St. David 14
Marcos de Niza 49, Moon Valley 8
Mesquite 39, Eastmark 34
Mica Mountain 40, Douglas 0
Mogollon 58, Sedona Red Roick 6
Northwest Christian 63, Thunderbird 34
Paradise Honors 35, ALA-West Foothills 7
Peoria 36, St. Mary’s 35
Scottsdale Christian 56, Cortez 8
Snowflake 41, Poston Butte 0
Williams 68, Joseph City 6
Youngker 42, Estrella Foothills 20
4A GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS
School W-L W-L
Bradshaw Mountain 3-0 4-2
Lee Williams 2-0 5-1
Coconino 2-0 3-3
Mohave 1-2 4-2
Prescott 1-2 3-3
Flagstaff 0-2 1-5
Mingus 0-3 0-6
SCOREBOARD
Mohave 63, Prescott 28
Bradshaw Mountain 49, Flagstaff 6
Lee Williams 35, Westview 10
Coconino 34, Mingus 0
2A METRO 3 REGION STANDINGS
School W-L W-L
Scottsdale Christian 4-0 7-0
Camp Verde 3-0 6-1
Chino Valley 1-2 4-3
Fountain Hills 1-2 2-5
Bourgade Catholic 1-3 4-3
Cortez 0-3 1-6
SCOREBOARD
Bourgade Catholic 21, Chino Valley 14
Camp Verde 55, Holbrook 20
Fountain Hills 36, ALA-Anthem South 6
Scottsdale Christian 56, Cortez 8
