By Jon Johnson
“Ain’t nothing but barbecue chicken after that.”
Pima Head Football Coach Josh Wilkins
PIMA – The No. 3 Pima Roughriders overcame a sluggish start to run past the No. 6 Bisbee Pumas in the second half of the 2A State Quarterfinals on Edd Hubbard Field on Friday night, 38-22.
With the win Pima will now face No. 2 Tonopah Valley Phoenix on Saturday, Nov. 23, at Westwood High School at 945 W. Rio Salado Pkwy., Mesa, starting at 2 p.m. Tonopah Valley defeated No. 15 Parker, 24-22, in the opening round and No. 7 Arizona Lutheran, 56-30, in the quarterfinals.
In the top of the bracket, No. 1 San Tan Charter will face No. 12 Scottsdale Christian in the other semifinal at the same venue following the Pima game.
Pima 38 – Bisbee 22
It was a historic ending of an era Friday night in Pima as the school turned out the lights on its varsity football field one final time. With the construction of its new high school expected to be completed by next year, the 2A State Quarterfinal matchup against Bisbee would be the final varsity football contest played on the 60-plus-year-old Edd Hubbard field.
Legendary football coach Edd Hubbard never lost more than two games in a season, and current head coach Josh Wilkins has matched that in his three seasons and hopes to carry that into next year’s new field.
“I want to thank all the alumni that have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into this field tonight,” said Pima head football coach Josh Wilkins. “We wanted to come out and retire this field the way it should be with the win with a hard-fought, ground-and-pound, let’s get after them type of win. We just started grinding; we started pounding, and ain’t nothing but barbecue chicken after that.”
Pima had 235 yards rushing on the night with 204 coming from Jeremiah Martinez on 28 carries and 2 TDs. Rooster Alder carried the ball 7 times for 31 yards.
Quarterback Cedrick Grimes went 11-21 for 137 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 INT for a quarterback rating of 92.7.
Grimes’ favorite target on the night was Jaxon McBiles, who caught 4 passes for 56 yards. The joy was spread throughout the receiving corps, however, as three different receivers, Keegan Corona, Wade Peterson, and Preston Russell, all caught touchdown passes.
For Bisbee, its standout player was its quarterback, Sebastian Lopez, who finished 11-32 for 174 yards passing, 1 TD, and 1 INT, and he also led the team in rushing with 163 yards on 11 carries and rushing 2 TDs.
Pima came out running and gunning and didn’t even huddle up when faced with a 4th and 6 from their own 41.
Instead, sophomore quarterback Cedrick Grimes connected with Jaxon McBiles for the first down and then some as McBiles took the pass to mid-field.
However, the Roughriders had to overcome an interception, fumble, and two punts before they would find the end zone late in the second quarter.
The game stayed in play because Bisbee was having just about as much luck on the offensive side of the ball. The Pumas started with a fumble, turnover on downs, punt, turnover on downs, and another punt all in the first half.
It was a botched punt by Bisbee on 4th and 29 set up Pima’s first score. The punter bobbled the snap but recovered quickly and had plenty of time to punt but appeared to have been rattled and instinctively ran for it.
Pima got the ball in Bisbee territory on the turnover but soon faced a 4th and 6 from the 37. Grimes had plenty of time in the pocket thanks to his offensive line and he found Preston Russell for the game’s first score. An offsides penalty moved the closer for the after-touchdown try, so the Roughriders decided to go for 2 points and Martinez ran it in to put Pima up 8-0 with 2:54 left in the half.
Pima’s defense forced a punt and the Roughriders got the ball back before halftime with 1:36 left on the clock. That was long enough for the Roughriders to work themselves to a 4th and 5 from the 10 with 15 seconds left. Pima went with the kicking team and Rhiley Good split the uprights to give Pima an 11-0 lead going into halftime.
Field position was key in the game, and a microcosm of that would be the opening of the third quarter in which the Bisbee player mishandled the kickoff and the Pumas ended up starting their drive at their own 3-yard line.
A 3-and-out later and Pima has the ball starting its possession at Bisbee’s 33.
The Roughriders ran the ball down the Pumas’ throats a few plays and that perhaps opened up the pass coverage downfield as Grimes threw a 15-yard TD to Wade Peterson to put Pima up 18-0 early in the third.
Bisbee finally got on the board when Sebastian Lopez took a designed quarterback run on 4th and 1 from his own 36 to the house for a 64-yard TD. The extra point was no good and Pima led 18-6 with 7:44 left in the third quarter.
The Riders answered right back and started their possession around midfield on a good kickoff runback. They then proceeded to pound the ball through the Pumas, finishing with a 2-yard Martinez plunge to go up 24-6 with 3:55 left in the third.
Bisbee cut it to 24-14 early in the fourth after Lopez hit Jaxxon Alvarez for the touchdown on a 4th and 10 from the 20 and then took it in himself for the 2-point conversion.
It would be the closest Bisbee would get, however, as Martinez busted a big 54-yard run that Bisbee’s Cameron Anderson just caught with a shoestring tackle and followed it up with a 3-yard TD.
Keegan Corona then took the ball back for Pima on an athletic interception and ended up with the last points for the Roughriders on a 17-yard score to make it 38-14 with 4:30 left in the game.
Lopez and the Pumas kept fighting, and after a big run to the 1, Lopez scored and then hit Coronado for the 2-point conversion to make the final score 38-22.
“We had a little motivation this week,” Wilkins said. “They (opponent fans) were concerned about the type of athletes we have whether or not we’d be pounding it up the middle and I think we answered pretty well. This is a good Bisbee team. They had a great season, and I’m glad they came and played hard till the end. It was just a hard-fought win and I’m glad we were able to retire the field the way we did.”
Pima will next play in the semifinals against No. 2 Tonopah Valley Phoenix on Saturday, Nov. 23, at Westwood High School at 945 W. Rio Salado Pkwy., Mesa, starting at 2 p.m.
In other local football playoff action:
The No. 3 Thatcher Eagles defeated the No. 6 Florence Gophers, 38-9, to advance to the 3A State Semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 23, at Mesa High School at 1630 E. Southern Ave. in Mesa, starting at 2 p.m.
Thatcher will take on the No. 2 American Leadership Academy – West Foothills Guardians which defeated No. 15 Dysard 49-14 in the opening round and No. 10 Round Valley 28-6 in the quarterfinals.
In the top of the bracket, No. 1 Benjamin Franklin will play No. 4 Pusch Ridge in the other semifinal at the same venue after the Thatcher game. If Thatcher and Pusch Ridge advance, it would be an all-3A South Region final and a rubber match as Pusch Ridge defeated Thatcher in the regular season 22-7 to take the 3A South.
