Stan Bonifacio Sports Photography: Thatcher’s Joshua Mangum gives a straight arm to Pima’s Hayden Blair en route to a 25-yard TD. The touchdown was called back for holding, but Mangum would score later on the drive to cap Thatcher’s 14-0 victory.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – It took a well-camoflauged play and a Herculean individual effort to get points on the board, but Thatcher managed to do just that to defeat Pima on the road in a fierce defensive battle.
They say football is a game of inches. Well, a bounce here and slip there, and this could have easily been a very different outcome.
The Eagles committed four turnovers (two fumbles and two interceptions) in the first half, but the Roughriders couldn’t capitalize on those opportunities and Thatcher left Edd Hubbard Field with a 14-0 win on Friday night.
“Pima is a great team,” said Thatcher head coach Dan Jones. “They’re scrappy. They get where they need to be and they outplayed us tonight, truthfully.”
The game had many twists and turns, starting with the young Roughrider defense stopping the vaunted Eagles’ offense on its first possession with a three-and-out. Previously, Thatcher had defeated its first two opponents 53-7 over 3A Sahuarita and 56-7 over 3A Florence in games that were over before the half.
Pima also had trouble offensively and wasn’t able to move the ball that much against the large defensive line presented by Thatcher. For the game, Pima punted seven times and turned the ball over twice on downs and once on a lost fumble.
As for that Pima fumble, it set up Thatcher deep in Roughrider territory after the Eagles’ initial punt.
Pima was initially pinned back on its own 10-yard-line, and a few plays later Thatcher’s Jacob Rasmussen (one of the previously mentioned linemen) got his paw on the ball as Brody Brown made a move and knocked it out of the running back’s hands. Pepper Hughes of Pima and Ayden Bingham of Thatcher both pounced on it, but was the refs patted Hughes on his back to get up, Hughes let go and the ball was awarded to Thatcher.
On the very next play, Thatcher quarterback Wyatt Larson faked out nearly everyone in the stadium as he held onto the ball instead of giving it to running back Joshua Mangum and went 25 yards straight up the gut to pay dirt. Just like that, Thatcher was up 7-0. It would be the only score until late in the third quarter.
While Pima couldn’t move the ball and was forced to punt, its defense kept things close by recovering turnovers.
First, Brown tipped a Larson pass that Leland Thompson came down with for the INT. And then Thompson was Johnny on the spot on Thatcher’s next possession and gathered a fumble that occurred when the snap hit Cody Jones while he was in motion.
Again Pima failed to capitalize on the turnover, but Pierce Ashby’s punt pinned Thatcher back onto its own 5-yard-line.
In the second quarter it was more of the same as Larson dropped back to pass but this time it went off his own receiver’s hands and into the arms of Grant Ashby, who had a nice return back from midfield to the Eagles’ 29-yard-line.
After Pima failed to convert a 4th and 9, Thatcher began to move the ball with runs from Ayden Bingham. However, the drive failed on 3rd and short when Seth Russel forced Mangum to fumble and Wyatt Wiltbank recovered for Pima.
Neither team could move the ball after that and for the second time in consecutive weeks against a 3A opponent Pima went into halftime only down a touchdown 7-0.
And just like in the Safford game, Pima had a big kickoff return in the second half. This time, Jaxon John took the kick from his own 13 and utilized a nifty spin move to get free. John was caught at the 35 but the damage was done and Pima had great opening field position.
Down by just 7, Pima was driving but faced a 4th and 5 from the 30. That’s when the defensive play of the game, and maybe the most influential play of the game occurred.
Russell dropped back to pass, and just before he got hammered by the Thatcher rush, he hit an open Wiltbank over the middle for a first down to the Eagles’ 15-yard line. But as Wiltbank was gathering the ball, Thatcher’s Trevin Gaylord recovered and gave a textbook-crushing hit to knock the ball out for the incompletion.
“Our defense is pretty stout,” Dan Jones said. “They did a good job and they kept us in the game. But offensively, we decided we wanted to keep them in the game. So, we’ve gotta fix a few things.”
Instead of possibly tieing up the game, Pima turned the ball over on downs and Thatcher would make them pay.
The Eagles methodically moved the ball down the field in that third quarter behind big running from Mangum. It would be the only possession for Thatcher in the quarter, and the Roughriders nearly stopped them cold.
Facing a 4th and 18, Larson dropped back to pass and threw across his body downfield. Awaiting was Wiltbank for what appeared to be the third interception for Pima. However, the ball bounced off Wiltbank and into the hands of Cody Jones, who was coming to act as a defender due to the poorly thrown ball and actually tackled himself into Wiltbank after making the catch.
The Eagles had a fresh set of downs in the Red Zone, yet the Roughriders nearly held them out except for an incredible effort by Mangum.
On 4th and goal from the 5, Mangum took the handoff but was immediately set upon by two Roughriders. Mangum appeared to get tackled and had his head horizontal with the turf, barely a few inches above the blades of grass. He steadied himself, however, and noticed in the process he ended up facing the opposite way. Mangum then turned toward the goal but yet another Roughrider came to finish the tackle. Mangum somehow managed to stay on his feet and began lunging forward while his body was nearly horizontal with the ground. He stumbled and dove across the goal line, scoring the TD and putting the game out of reach for good, 14-0.
“I know I had some mishaps earlier in the game and I didn’t want to be defined by those in this game,” Mangum said. “I really wanted to prove a point . . . I got the ball, got hit a couple of times (but) stayed on my feet. It really was just God’s strength. I don’t know how I stayed up.”
Thatcher will return to region action Friday when it hosts Tucson Sabino.
“Pima is a great football team,” Dan Jones said. “They were more aggressive than we were tonight. And that’s a big key. We gotta see where we went wrong and fix it. And we look forward to Sabino next week.”
Thatcher (1-0 region, 3-0 overall) sits atop the 3A South due to its win over fellow region member Sahuarita, but Pusch Ridge (3-0) and Safford (3-0) are also unbeaten. Thatcher will host Sabino (2-1) on Friday, Sept. 17, starting at 7 p.m.
“We play our game, no team is stopping us,” Mangum said. “I believe that. (It was) just an off day today.”
Pima (1-2) will be on the road next week as it travels to Tucson Santa Rita (0-2) with hopes of getting back on track after two tough 3A opponents.
“Playing hard teams, I feel like we’ll get more motivated – like get stronger about it,” said Pima punter Pierce Ashby. “We’ll get better (for) the later season and playoffs. Hopefully, we’ll get at it.”
In other local prep football action:
In 3A, Safford (3-0) defeated Empire 28-6. The Bulldogs will next host Douglas (1-0) on Friday, Sept. 17, starting at 7 p.m. Douglas is coming off a win over Bisbee, 24-21.
In 2A, Morenci (2-1) defeated Globe 50-0. The Wildcats will next host Madison Highland (1-2) on Friday, Sept. 17, starting at 7 p.m.
In 1A, Baboquivari defeated Fort Thomas (1-1) 24-12. The Apaches will next host Fredonia (0-1) on Friday, Sept. 17, starting at 4 p.m.
St. David defeated Duncan (0-3 region, 1-3 overall) 60-6. The Wildkats will next host Baboquivari (1-0).
