Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Santa Cruz junior Hunter Ogle gained 54 of 65 yards on six carries during the visitor’s initial possession. It used 5:34 and he crossed in from five yards out for the first score. He added scoring runs of 58 and two yards plus a conversion pass reception. The Dust Devils left Morenci with a 28-7 win Sept. 20.
By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – The Joseph Garcia-coached Morenci football team will host the Bisbee Pumas on Friday, Sept. 27. It is the Wildcats’ 54th homecoming game. Morenci is 35-18 for this event, 12-4 from 1966-1981 “on the Hill” and 23-14 from 1982-2018 in Lawson Stadium.
Bisbee has been in Morenci for that occasion four previous times, twice “on the Hill” (1977, 1981) and twice in Lawson Stadium (2005, 2009).
Morenci is 3-1 versus the Pumas for homecoming, winning 20-12 (Nov. 11, 1977), 13-8 (Nov. 13, 1981), and 33-14 (Oct. 9, 2009). Bisbee’s win was 30-22 (Sept. 30, 2005).
Bisbee has a 22-19-1 overall record and an average score per game of 17-16 (710-678) versus Morenci during the past 75 seasons (1944-2018), 12-7-1 at Warren Ball Park, and 10-10 in Morenci.
However, the Wildcats are 8-7 versus the Pumas as a 2A school, 6-3 with an average score per game of 23-14 (208-124) or a 9-point margin in Lawson Stadium.
Morenci left Bisbee with a 64-20 win last season.
Thus far in 2019, Morenci is 0-2 in Lawson Stadium and the Wildcats have given up 77 unanswered points during six consecutive quarters, 49 to Benson in quarters 2-3-4 and 28 to Santa Cruz in quarters 1-2-3.
“Morenci es no bueno this year,” a neutral onlooker said. That person was in Lawson Stadium for the non-game with Thatcher and the Benson game, but not the one with Santa Cruz. The remark was made after having heard the score.
Bisbee (4-0 overall) has outscored four opponents by an average score of 28-14 (110-55) per game or a margin of 14 points. The Pumas have wins of 36-21 over Douglas (Aug. 30), 36-8 over Globe (Sept. 6), 20-14 over Miami (Sept. 13), and 18-12 over Pima (Sept. 20).
Morenci (2-2) seeks its initial home win of five games. The Wildcats have been outscored by an average of 21-17 (83-68) per game or a by a 4-point margin. The wins are 42-0 over Tucson Santa Rita (Aug. 30) and 14-6 over Willcox (Sept. 12), both on the road. The losses are 49-7 to Benson (Sept. 6) and 28-7 to Santa Cruz (Sept. 20).
Santa Cruz – 28, Morenci – 7
The Wildcats managed to both outscore and shutout the visitors in the fourth quarter.
However, the Eloy Santa Cruz Dust Devils (4-1) left with a dominating 28-7 triumph Sept. 20. It was their initial visit to Lawson Stadium.
Santa Cruz had a 2-to-1 advantage in time of possession, over 32 minutes compared to nearly 16 by Morenci. Additionally, the Dust Devils snapped 59 offensive plays to Morenci’s 29 and netted over 300 offensive yards compared to just over 100 by the Wildcats.
The teams both had 11 possessions. Santa Cruz scored four times, turned the ball over on downs thrice, was intercepted, fumbled, and punted once each, and took a knee on the last one. Morenci scored once, punted five times, fumbled twice, was intercepted and turned the ball over on downs once each, and ran out of time on the other one.
“Why would anyone pay to watch them play like that?” asked a disappointed attendee in the exit mode.
The home side was not filled as the captains made their way to the mid-field coin toss last week. Also noticeably absent for the entire game were the yearbook class students, the ones designated to record the school year for posterity.
“We lacked (executing) fundamentals of football, blocking and tackling,” Garcia said. “Those are the things we worked on all week. We can either keep going as you have been or get better. We have to get better. How are you going to respond?”
“We aren’t concerned with what our opponents do,” Santa Cruz head coach Richard Davis said. “We try to get better at the things we do every time. Most of our players were sophomores last year. They are getting better.”
Morenci won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
The Dust Devils received the opening kick, marched 65 yards in 10 plays using 5:24, and capped it with a 5-yard junior Hunter Ogle run. Junior Angel Roman added the conversion kick for a 7-0 advantage with 6:19 remaining in the opening quarter.
Santa Cruz punted and fumbled on its ensuing possessions before scoring on the next. The visitors covered 37 yards in eight plays using 4:15. Sophomore Ricardo Alaniz crossed in from two yards out. Ramon made it 14-0 with 6:26 left in the second quarter.
Morenci ran off four plays, gaining a yard before turning over the ball on downs, went three-and-out with a punt, and was intercepted on its third possession.
The Wildcats went three-and-out with a punt on their fourth possession and fumbled after gaining six yards on their fifth possession.
Following a first-down holding penalty, Ogle erupted for a 58-yard scoring run on the visitors’ fifth possession. The conversion kick was wide right of the uprights. The score was 20-0 with 3:39 left in the first half. The Dust Devils’ six possession resulted in an incomplete pass on 4th-and-13.
Morenci’s sixth possession needed to cover 74 yards in nine seconds, but got only 11 before the buzzer sounded indicating halftime.
The Wildcats returned from the break needing 66 yards to score and crossed inside the 20 before fumbling on the third play. Morenci’s next three possessions went three-and-out with punts.
Santa Cruz used its initial possession of the second half to march 81 yards in 12 plays using 7:29. Ogle capped the drive with a 2-yard run and caught the conversion pass from senior Anthony Clark. It completed the visitor’s scoring. The Dust Devils threw an incomplete 4th-and-8 pass, were intercepted, and turned the ball over on downs in their next three possessions.
With 1:38 left on the clock, senior Brandon Blair completed a pass to sophomore Tony Roybal that turned into a 67-yard gain. Blair carried twice for a yard apiece to break a six quarters home scoring drought. The 69 yards were covered in three plays using 1:03. Junior Hugo Mancinas added the conversion kick for the final score.
The final Santa Cruz possession with 30 seconds remaining ended with the quarterback taking a knee to run down the clock.
