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Holbrook players, coaches and fans were primed for a win on Aug. 30 when the host team welcomed Chinle to Roadrunner Stadium. The Wildcats were the only team Holbrook defeated last season.
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The first quarter of the game was marred by penalties on both sides of the field. At one point, six consecutive flags were thrown, mostly for five-yard infractions but the flag fest still kept the game from finding any sort of flow.
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Holbrook’s defense did do an impressive job through the first half, turning away the Wildcats on three separate occasions when Chinle had the ball inside Holbrook’s 20-yard line. Penalties on the Wildcats also helped Holbrook keep them out of the endzone on all three occasions when they had great field position.
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Last week John O’Brien had a big night running the ball. The Wildcats did their homework, and O’Brien really struggled to find running room throughout the game. He did have a couple of nice gains, one of over 50 yards coming on a swing pass out of the backfield in the second half. With Holbrook’s rushing attack bottled up, they were forced to go to the air, where the freshman quarterback, Marcus Oberriter showed his youth. The young signal caller did have a nice 33-yard touchdown run off a scramble in the second period for Holbrook’s first score but the majority of the night he was pressured into risky throws.
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Chinle’s starting quarterback seemed to have an eternity every time he dropped back to throw. Holbrook’s defensive backs had to be tired after the game, chasing the Wildcat receivers around the field for much of the night. Holbrook’s defensive line struggled to put pressure on the Wildcat quarterback, giving him a lot of time to find receivers. One of his favorites was Darren Woody who caught an 18-yard strike from James Bahe with 6:50 left in the first half putting Chinle on top 7-0.
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Holbrook’s next possession ended when Gabe Baker’s punt was blocked into the endzone and recovered by a Wildcat lineman making the score 14-0. Oberriter’s 33-yard scramble came at the 3:36 mark of the half and gave Holbrook some momentum.
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Things looked really good when Izzy Ramos intercepted a Wildcat aerial giving Holbrook another chance late in the half. That chance vanished quickly with another Holbrook turnover, this time on a muffed punt which gave Chinle the ball deep in Holbrook territory. The Wildcats capitalized with a five-yard touchdown toss with 10 seconds left in the half giving them a 20-6 halftime cushion.
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Holbrook opened the second half in good form when Tyson Begay intercepted a Chinle pass. O’Brien’s 57-yard catch and run moved the ball deep into Chinle territory, then Oberriter scored on three-yard run making the score 20-12 and seemingly giving Holbrook all the momentum.
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Chinle’s Shia Bowman ended the Holbrook positive vibes early in the fourth with a five-yard touchdown making the score 27-12. Holbrook had a couple of chances late in the fourth but turnovers, which had been a problem throughout the game, ended any late game scoring threats the Birds may have had.
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With the loss the Roadrunners fall to 0-2 on the season. They had a week off to prepare for their game in Ganado on Sept. 13. Coach Starkey and his staff will most assuredly focus on penalties and taking care of the football during those two weeks.
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Holbrook has a young team, and these types of games are to be expected. As long as the young core of players continue to be lead by upperclassmen in the right way, as they have been thus far, this program will eventually turn the corner. With a young team sometimes one step forward is followed by two steps backwards. The key is to keep pressing forwards, and hopefully the Holbrook football program will continue to do just that.
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