Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Safford QB Jojo Ruelas drops back for a pass. The Bulldogs defeated the Morenci Wildcats 26-14.
Safford spoils 58th Morenci homecoming after ceremonies
By Raymundo Frasquillo
SAFFORD – The Robert Parks-coached No. 14 Safford Bulldogs host the No. 17 Eagar Round Valley Elks on Thursday, Oct. 5. The Bulldogs are 3-4 overall and the Elks 3-3.
Round Valley Elks (3-3 overall)
Eagar Round Valley (3-3, 2-0 3A East Region) has averaged a 21-14 (128-84) score per game or a 7-point margin.
The Elks defeated Saint Johns 37-8 (Sept. 1), Show Low 40-3 (Sept. 22) and Payson 7-3 (Sept. 29) plus fell 6-24 to Morenci (Aug. 25), 20-22 to Thatcher (Sept. 8) and 18-20 to Poston Butte (Sept. 15),
Round Valley has Ganado (Oct. 13), Fountain Hills (Oct. 20), and Blue Ridge (Oct. 27) left to play.
Safford Bulldogs (3-4)
The 2-4 Bulldogs (3-4, 1-1 3A South Region) have averaged a 28-25 (195-172) score per game or 3-point margin in wins over Payson (35-14, Aug. 18), Tucson Rincon/University (49-17, Sept. 8), and Morenci (26-14, Sept. 29) as well as losses to Pima (25-34, Aug. 25), Florence (26-29, Sept. 1), Tucson Sabino (21-50, Sept. 15), and Lakeside Blue Ridge (13-14, Sept. 22).
Safford completes its regular season at Thatcher (Oct. 13) and with Pusch Ridge (Oct. 27).
Safford – 26, Morenci – 14
Having opened with three straight wins, yielding six points, and averaging a 22- 1 (65-6) score per game or 21-point margin, the Wildcats were outscored 17-46 in the second half of their ensuing three games.
Safford made its presence known in Lawson Stadium during the second half, shutting out Morenci 17-0 after trailing 9-14 before the break. The Bulldogs scored on three of their four possessions, covering 52 yards in 10 plays, 15 yards in three plays, and 52 yards in one play.
Senior quarterback Joseph “JoJo” Ruelas connected with senior Christopher Shatto for an 11-yard touchdown on 4th-and-goal and senior Michael Chavez III added the conversion kick (16-14) with 4:10 elapsed in the third quarter, junior Carlos Arbizo added a 31-yard field goal on 4th-and-9 15 seconds before the fourth quarter (19-14), and Ruelas to Shatto on 1st-and-10 for a 52-yard touchdown and Chavez conversion kick with 9:05 left to play.
The final possession gained two of 95 yards before the Bulldogs twice dropped to a knee to end the game.
Three turnovers sealed Morenci’s loss in the second half. The Wildcats gained 44 of 85 yards in eight plays before being intercepted on 1st-and-10, 28 of 71 yards before fumbling on 1st-and-10, and 62 of 67 yards before turning the ball over on downs with an incomplete pass on 4th-and-goal.
For the game, Safford gained 396 yards in 40 offensive plays, 98 on 16 carries, and 298 on 13-24 receptions compared to 266 in 39 plays, 197 on 31 carries, and 69 on 3-8 receptions.
Junior Manuel Dawson averaged 13.0 (1-13) yards per carry, senior Damian “Monster” Rois 6.0 (6-10) yards, Ruelas 5.5 (4-22) yards, and Shatto 3.0 (1-3) yards.
Ruelas completed 13-24 passes for 243 yards with no interceptions. Senior Noah Dominguez averaged 35.0 (1-35) yards per catch, Shatto 29.0 (5-145) yards, junior Cole Goodman 28.7 (3-86) yards, and senior Izaiah Alvarado 8.0 (4-32) yards.
Defensively, a quarterback sack, five hurried passes. Three pass deflections and 51 tackles (29 solo, 22 assisted) were posted. Shatto totaled 11 tackles (5 solo, 6 assisted), junior Xavier Owens seven solo tackles, Alvarado six (1 solo, 5 assisted), and four apiece by Dawson (3 solo, 1 assisted), Dominguez (2 solo, 2 assisted), and Ruelas (2 solo, 2 assisted).
Senior Anthony Garrabo recorded a sack; Owens caused three hurried passes and Arbizo two; and Alvarado, Dawson, and Ruelas each deflected a pass.
For Morenci, senior Michael Casillas averaged 7.3 (20-146) yards per carry, sophomore Julien Aragon 5.5 (2-11) yards, senior Donovan Vozza 5.3 (3-16) yards, senior Emilio Roybal 4.3 (3-13) yards, and senior Tristen Sanchez 3.7 (3-11) yards.
Senior Joseph Seballos completed 2-7 passes for 35 yards with one interception and Sanchez 1-1 for 34 yards with no interceptions. Seballos caught a pass for 34 yards, Sanchez was 1-18, and senior Andrew Chavez was 1-17.
The then No. 10 ranked Morenci Wildcats hosted the No. 16 Safford Bulldogs for a 3A South Region contest. It was also the Greenlee County school’s 58th homecoming game, the 42nd in Lawson Stadium.
Morenci had won 38 of the previous 57 (.667) homecoming games, with 26-41 (.634) in the current venue and 12-16 (.750) “on the hill.”
The Bulldogs were 28-10-1 and averaged an 18-11 (698-441) score per game or 7-point margin versus the Wildcats during the previous 70 seasons (1953-2022).
Safford had an 8-2 advantage and a 21-17 (210-169) score per game or 4-point margin during the last 10 pairings from 1982-2022, going 3-1 and averaging a 25-19 (101-75) score per game or 6-point margin in Lawson Stadium.
The Bulldogs won 32-13 (2014), 14-12 (1985), and 34-21 (1983) in Morenci and 22-14 (2013), 26-14 (2011), 12-8 (1986), 26-14 (1984), 23-0 (1982) in Safford while Morenci’s wins were 29-21 (2012) in Morenci and 44-0 (2022) in Safford.
Offensive yard averages included 5.7 (132-750) per carry and 18.5 (121-1,089) per catch for Safford compared to 4.6 (228-1,050) per carry and 14.8 (18-267) per catch for Morenci. Defensively, Safford had recorded 11 quarterback sacks, six interceptions, and five fumble recoveries versus nine sacks, 10 interceptions, and six fumble recoveries by Morenci.
