Gila Herald Photo: The Pima Roughriders ran over the visiting Scottsdale Christian Academy Eagles last week. The Roughriders’ game against Willcox has been canceled by Willcox due to COVID-19 protocols.
By Jon Johnson
PIMA – The Willcox Cowboys (5-0 conference, 1-0 region, 6-0 overall) have canceled their game against the Pima Roughriders (4-0 conference, 1-0 region, 4-2 overall) on Friday. After not being able to secure any team to play in a replacement game, Pima will take a bye week instead and will next play Thursday, Oct. 14, versus Tombstone ( (2-3 conference, 0-1 region, 2-3 overall). The Yellow Jackets host Morenci Friday night.
According to Willcox Principal Tammy Hall, the cancelation is due to COVID-19, but she neglected to elaborate further. She did say she believed the team would be available for its next game the following Friday, Oct. 15, versus Bisbee.
Willcox has an unbeaten record but has yet to play any meaningful opponent this year. Pima, who recently beat Benson 14-7, would have been its toughest game to date. Willcox’s opponents this year so far have a combined record of 9-23, with four of those victories coming from Tanque Verde. With that, they are ranked No. 3 in the 2A San Pedro Region due to a lower conference ranking than San Pedro Region No. 2 Pima and San Pedro Region No. 1 Morenci (5-0 conference, 1-0 region, 5-1 overall).
Pima currently sits in the No. 2 position in the 2A San Pedro Region, just behind No. 1 Morenci. The Wildcats’ matchup next week at Benson looms large, but with Pima having regional games left against Tombstone (2-3 conference, 0-1 region, 2-3 overall) and Bisbee (3-2 conference, 0-1 region, 3-3 overall) it is not a stretch to believe that the final regular-season game of the year between Morenci and Pima could likely determine the champion of the 2A San Pedro. If Morenci gets past Benson, that is.
