The last time Snowflake
and River Valley met in the 3A State football playoffs it was for the state championship. That was in the 2014 season and River Valley prevailed 28-21.
On Nov. 8, the fourth seeded Lobos hosted No. 13 River Valley on and the higher ranked Lobos had little problems ending River Valley’s season.
The Lobos scored on their opening possession with Brig Turley capping a 70-yard drive with a five-yard touchdown run. Caden Cantrell added two more on the two-point conversion run making the lead 8-0 just three minutes into the game.
Snowflake added a second rushing touchdown early in the second period and went on top 15-0 with Sam Crockett’s point after kick. Midway through the second, the Lobo defense got on the board with a blocked punt returned for a touchdown. Crockett’s point after pushed the margin to 22-0.
River Valley scored their first and only points of the game late in the half on a rushing touchdown. The Lobos put more points on the board inside the final minute of the half, making the score 29-7 at the half.
Snowflake scored twice more in the second half making the final score 42-7 and advancing the Lobos to the quarterfinal round where they will meet up with a familiar foe. Blue Ridge will be the opponent as the fifth seeded Yellowjackets defeated 12th seeded AZ College Prep in Pinetop by a final of 35-13.
Ethan Ramage completed eight of 15 pass attempts for 134 yards with one touchdown. Cantrell was his favorite mark with four grabs for 38 yards and the score. Nick McVicker had two catches for 77 yards. Terren Green caught one for 10, and Rev Brimhall had one catch for nine yards.
On the ground, the Lobos were led by Green with 110 yards on 11 attempts with two touchdowns. Turley picked up 72 yards on 10 rushes scoring once. Isaac Dally rushed four times for 12 total yards. Cantrell had two carries for three yards, with one touchdown. Ramage carried three times for two yards.
Snowflake’s defense got the job done with three interceptions, once each from Ryson Stuart, Jacob Ballard and Shandon Hatch. Brimhall also recovered on River Valley fumble.
In their regular season meeting played on Oct. 4, the Lobos prevailed 29-17. The last time these two rivals met in the state playoffs was 2012 when the Yellowjackets prevailed 44-0 in the state semi-finals. This game will be much closer, especially with the higher seeded Lobos hosting the game.
