Larson’s Hat Trick Not Good Enough For Badgers To Overcome Coconino

Photo :10 Brinkley Larson returns the last of her three interceptions

The Prescott Badgers fell for the first time to the Coconino Panthers 22-0 at Prescott High School. The Badgers had beaten the Panthers all three times prior. It was not the only first. It was also the first time Prescott had been shutout in the program’s three year history and the first time wearing their black uniforms.

Coconino was coming in after suffering their first loss of the season, a 28-0 setback at Mesquite. Perhaps the Panthers were looking ahead to this very game. They definitely had reason for the motivation after some wild shocking losses to the Badgers before.

The atmosphere was festive as the band and cheerleaders were on hand doing their part to inspire the Badgers but Coconino came out unfazed and marched down the field on their very first series, going 86 yards and scoring on a 4 yard touchdown pass from Blanca Ventura-Gomez to Claire Monsman. The kick failed but it was 6-0 Panthers with 7:10 left in the opening quarter.

Photo: 4 Abigail Christoph working hard to get past the defender

The Badgers offense came out and was unable to move the ball forcing a quick punt. Coconino took over the ball at the Prescott 39 and did a repeat and went on top 12-0 when Ventura-Gomez  found an open receiver Monsman in the back corner of the end zone with 1:52 on the clock.

Photo: 15 Halle Terelak-Foster extends the ball out for a first down as 7 Emma Kennelly attempts to pull the flag

Prescott once again was unable to move the ball and with a fourth and two punted it back to Coconino. The returner brought it all the way back to near the original line of scrimmage to the Badger 22 yard line as the quarter came to an end. Three plays later Ventura-Gomez took advantage of an open middle and darted into the end zone to make it 19-0 at the 10:55 mark.

After a third stumble on offense, the Badgers finally had something to cheer about when Brinkley Larson intercepted a pass in the end zone and brought it out the the 8 yard line. The officials missed a roughing the passing call on quarterback Rylee Hart as she took a shot as she released a pass on a third down play. The Badgers elected to go for it on fourth and two but came up short. The defense stepped up a second time and forced a 26 yard field goal by Alyssa Scott to make the deficit 22-0 with a minute left in the half.

Photo: 5 Lucy Zembik brings down 23 Kate Wesche

It was a different game in the second half as defense was the name of the game at that point. The Badgers did move the ball but not enough to get into the red zone. Meanwhile Coconino was in the same predicament. 

One could not help but notice that the officials had a problem with the rules of the clock, starting it before the snap on change of possessions was a common issue throughout. The rule states that the clock is not to start until the ball is snapped to start a quarter or change of possession. The mercy rule is 28 points, so that did not apply either. It was not a huge deal because it was not a close game. It was also a physical game with only one flag being thrown for hard contact as a Coconino player physically took out a Prescott runner right in front of the Badger bench.

Brinkley Larson had the best night of any Badger as she came up with a hat trick of three interceptions. One of which could be on an ESPN highlight reel. That particular one came in the third quarter when she put one arm up high into the air to reach the ball and then pull it in. Larson said, “I have got to admit that one even surprised me. I am pretty sure that one saved us a touchdown too.” Larson’s first pick was in the second quarter in the end zone keeping Coconino from scoring then as well and her last came midway through the final quarter. About the team discussion after Larson added, “Coach said good effort and we will bring it on Wednesday against Flagstaff so we can move forward.”

Coach Ryan Hart said, “It was a tough one tonight. It all starts with executing early and we didn’t do that. They came out ready and took it to us, but when you are not executing on either side of the ball early on whether that’s protecting the quarterback or getting into those passing lanes. It is not going to go well and tonight it didn’t. Hats off to Blanca Ventura-Gomez, an incredible quarterback. She moved around tonight. It’s nice to see her being great at football. We all love the sport and we love Coco coming in here and can’t wait till we lace it up against them next time.” 

About the game today at Flagstaff, Hart added, “It’s gonna be a wet one. We have a good plan for Flagstaff, but we have to just execute early and set the tone like we’re usually able to do. We’re gonna be cold and wet but if we focus and execute early, I know I keep saying that that’s just gonna be we looked a lot better in the second half tonight defensively playing a little more loose and the protection is better so we’re gonna try to carry that second half energy and execution over into Flagstaff and we’ll be all right. We’ve got a lot of football left.”

The Badgers loss dropped them to (0-2) in the Grand Canyon Region and (4-3) overall. They travel to face undefeated Flagstaff this afternoon at 3pm. Prescott returns home for a non-region game versus Estrella Foothills on Monday at 6pm.

COCONINO PANTHERS 22, PRESCOTT BADGERS 0

Score by Quarters-      1        2        3        4    –     T

Coconino                    12      10       0        0    –    22

Prescott                       0        0        0        0    –      0

Scoring Summary

C-Monsman 4 yard run (Kick failed)

C-Monsman 4 yard pass from Ventura-Gomez (Kick failed)

C-Ventura-Gomez 2 yard run (Scott kick)

C-Scott 26 yd Field Goal

GRAND CANYON REGION STANDINGS

School                         W-L       W-L

Coconino (6)                 3-0        9-1

Flagstaff (5)                   2-0        8-0

Mingus (7)                     2-1        8-1

Bradshaw Mountain      2-2        5-6

Prescott (8)                   0-2        4-3

Lee Williams (12)          0-2        4-3

Mohave                         0-2        0-7

#-Division 4A Rank as of October 20

SCOREBOARD

Coconino 22, Prescott 0

Bradshaw Mountain 14, Lee Williams 6 

ALA-Queen Creek 26, Tempe 0

Copper Canyon 17, Glendale 6

Highland 67, Chandler 0

Salpointe Catholic 56, Rio Rico 0

Youngker 10, Willow Canyon 7