By Greg Perkins Snowflake played a tale of two halves on Friday night in Thatcher, but fortunately the Lobos second half was just a little better than the Eagles first half. Thatcher grabbed the early momentum, blocking a Snowflake punt on the Lobo’s first possession. The Eagles quickly took advantage of good field position scoring on an 18-yard rushing touchdown. The point after kick gave the home team Eagles a quick 7-0 lead. Thatcher capped a solid offensive drive early in the second period with a two-yard plunge. The point after failed, but Thatcher had a 13-0 lead and Snowflake’s offense was struggling. Snowflake’s defense stopped the Eagles on the first drive of the third period, then their offense came to life when Caden Cantrell hooked up with Noah Baum on a short touchdown pass. Sam Crockett’s point after was good making the score 13-7. Camden Brimhall picked off an Eagle pass late in the third period giving Snowflake great field position. However, the Lobos gave the ball right back with an interception of their own. The Lobo defense held again forcing a Thatcher punt. That punt was blocked by David Ruiz and returned by Baum for the tying score. Crockett’s point after gave the Lobos the one-point lead late in the third period. Midway through the fourth period Crockett booted a 39-yard field goal for making the final score 17-13 as the Lobos improved to 2-0. Cantrell completed 7 of 14 passes for 98 yards, with one touchdown and 2 interceptions. Baum had 2 catches for 36 yards and a score. Green caught 3 for 31, Mayson McKinlay had 1 for 11 and Nick McVicker had one 20-yard reception. Snowflake’s rushing attack was limited throughout netting just 42 total yards. Green led the ground game with 31 yards on 7 attempts. Snowflake opens 3A East region play this Friday when they travel to Blue Ridge to take on the Yellowjackets. The Lobos won this match up last season, but playing on the road will make it a more difficult task this time.
