By Jon Johnson
“I went over to Jerry and I said, ‘Hey, it’s you four times. We’re scoring the ball,’ And he said, ‘I got it.’ And he did.”
Pima Head Coach Josh Wilkins
MORENCI – It was the Thrill on The Hill on Friday night as the Pima Roughriders rode into Lawson Stadium for a second consecutive Friday the 13th game against Morenci and escaped with a 20-14 double-overtime victory.
It was the second straight overtime win for Pima over Morenci (last year Pima won 19-16 at home on Edd Hubbard Field) and fourth straight victory for Pima over Morenci.
After stopping Morenci on two consecutive overtime possessions, there was only one play on Pima’s mind – give the ball to Jerry.
“I went over to Jerry and I said, ‘Hey, it’s you four times. We’re scoring the ball,’” said Pima head coach Josh Wilkins. “And he said, ‘I got it.’ And he did.”
Jeremiah Martinez finished with 28 rushes for 182 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 fumble. The rushing game was needed as the air attack was limited.
Cedric Grimes went 3-8 for 35 yards and had 2 INTs. Grimes did hit Jaxon McBiles for a 21-yard pickup to move the chains on 3rd and 16 in the third quarter.
The teams played a defensive battle to a near stalemate for the first half that saw three punts and three turnovers. Pima punted on their first possession, had a fumble on their second possession, and had their punt blocked on their third possession.
Morenci couldn’t take advantage, however, and punted on their first possession and Jaxon McBiles intercepted Wildcats’ quarterback Chris Lopez on the Cats’ second possession.
“Pima played a hell of a ball game,” said Morenci head coach Frankie Gonzalez. “They capitalized in the second overtime, you know, like I said, game of inches. We’re on the 3 yard line – could’ve punched it in right there. All we can do is go back to work on Monday.”
Chris Lopez went 1-4 for 6 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT for Morenci, and hit Xavier Fernandez on 3rd and goal from the 5 with just 12.5 seconds left in the half to give Morenci its first lead, 6-0, as the teams broke for the half.
Xavier Fernandez had a beast of an individual game racking up 1 TD, 2 INTs, and he recovered a punt blocked by Diddy Lupita.
Another standout for Morenci was Shane Seballos, who had a nose for the ball and recovered two fumbles.
“You gotta love playing in games like this – the emotion level; the fight from both sides of the field,” Wilkins said. “We had a lot of turnovers. We had a lot of miscues and stuff (but) we’ve been telling these guys this season we have to be ‘we’ over ‘me’. It’s not about the individual. We have to come together as a team, and boy did they just come together as a team. (The) defense stepped up they way they do (and) controlled that second half.”
Morenci got the ball to start the third, but Pima had a goal line stand when Charles Richardson fought off a block to get the stop and the Roughriders took over at their own 6.
Pima then had a long, sustained drive fueled by runs from Martinez, who was tearing them off in chunks. The series culminated with a 2-yard TD run by Martinez, who followed his offensive line into the end zone. The extra point by Rhiley Good gave Pima the lead, 7-6.
It was only momentarily, however, as after initially bobbling the kick-off, Julian Aragon found a seam and took it back to the house 83 yards for the TD. Marcus Lucero just broke the plane of the goal line for the 2-point conversion and Morenci was back up, 14-7, with 6:27 left in the third.
After Grimes’ second thrown INT, Morenci had the ball at their own 27 when Lopez fumbled the snap and Toby Bryce recovered for Pima. For the game, the Roughriders had 6 turnovers and Morenci had 4.
Pima capitalized on the turnover on 3rd and 2 from the 6 when Wade Peterson ran for the score. Another Rhiley Good PAT tied the game at 14-14 with 6:51 to play.
Pima’s defense held and the Roughriders got the ball back on their own 24 with about 3 minutes to play. The Riders were on the move when an inadvertent snap went over Grimes’ head and Seballos corralled the loose ball at Pima’s 46.
However, Morenci couldn’t move the ball with under a minute to play, and Brock Haws sent things to overtime by sacking Lopez.
Morenci won the toss and had Pima go on offense first. In high school overtime rules, both teams are allowed one possession from the 10-yard line.
On 2nd down, Peterson slipped while attempting to get the handoff and knocked the ball out of Grimes’ hands. Seballos recovered the fumble for Morenci and now it was the Cats’ turn needed any score to win.
Pima’s defense held and forced a 32-yard field goal attempt for the win. The kick had plenty of leg but hooked to the left and was no good.
Morenci then started on offense for double overtime and soon faced a 3rd and goal from the 4. That’s when Aiden Alder shed his blocker and made the defensive play of the game to stand up Lucero in the hole, holding him there long enough for teammates such as Joe Palmer to come in free and put on a lick end the tackle. Morenci went for it on 4th and 5 and Lopez’s pass fell incomplete.
With the score tied 14-14 in double overtime Pima began its second possession from the 10 and indeed gave it right to their workhorse fullback Jeremiah Martinez, who promptly plowed forward for 5 yards. He gained 2 yards on 2nd down and 2 more on 3rd down – both on dives up the middle – setting up a 4th down and goal from the 1.
Morenci’s only hope was a goal line defensive stand to force a third overtime, but true to his word Wilkins dialed up a fourth straight handoff to Martinez who plunged forward behind the offensive line for 2 more yards as he crossed the plane of the end zone to give the victory to Pima in double overtime, 20-14.
The win moves Pima to 2-1 overall, with the lone loss 7-14 on Aug. 29 versus 3A Safford. Pima sits alone atop the 2A Black Region.
“Both teams played great tonight,” Wilkins said. “Good job Riders. That was awesome.”
The Roughriders will next host the St. Johns Redskins (1-0 conference, 1-2 overall) on Friday, Sept. 20, starting at 7 p.m. to open regional play.
Morenci (1-1 conference, 2-2 overall) will venture outside the comforting confines of home for the first time this year as they visit Lakeside to take on the Blue Ridge Yellowjackets (2-0 conference, 4-0 overall) on Friday, Sept. 20, starting at 7 p.m. Blue Ridge is helmed by Eric Hjalmarson, who had previous stints as the head coach for Safford and Willcox.
“We’re battle tested,” said coach Gonzalez. “We’re ready for the rest of our schedule. We just gotta keep moving forward. We’re battle tested. We’re tough and resilient. I think everyone sees that. We just gotta clean up the little things; the false starts, the holdings, the missed tackles. We do those things we’ll be moving in the right direction. Hell of a game Pima. Can’t wait to do it again next year.”
In other local prep football action:
The Thatcher Eagles (4-0 conference, 4-0 overall) survived a furious comeback attempt by the Round Valley Elks (0-2 conference, 1-2 overall) and stayed undefeated with a 35-27 victory.
The Eagles will next have their toughest test of the season so far as the undefeated 4A West Valley Region Yuma Catholic Shamrocks (2-0 conference, 3-0 overall) will come to town on Friday, Sept. 20, starting at 7 p.m.
The Safford Bulldogs (0-2 conference, 2-2 overall) defeated the Rincon University Rangers 42-6 after the Rangers yielded at the half.
The Bulldogs next begin regional play as they travel to Tucson to face the Sabino Sabercats (2-0 conference, 2-2 overall) on Friday, Sept. 20, starting at 7 p.m.
The Fort Thomas Apaches (2-2 conference, 2-2 overall) fell to the San Manuel Miners 32-40. The Apaches will next host the Superior Panthers (1-3 conference, 1-3 overall) on Friday, Sept. 20, starting at 7 p.m.
The Duncan Wildkats (1-2 conference, 1-3 overall) fell to the St. David Tigers 8-59. The Wildkats will next travel to the Sells area to play the Baboquivari Warriors on Friday, Sept. 27, starting at 7 p.m.
