Playing in front of their largest crowd this year on homecoming night, Holbrook was able to prevail in what was essentially a playoff game. Both Tuba City, which brought a large crowd, and Holbrook were fighting for the right to win the Little Colorado Region and vault into the playoffs as the No. 16 seed.
Both teams seemed a little nervous throughout the first quarter, which ended with Tuba City on top 2-0. The Warriors had blocked a Holbrook punt, then marched down to the Roadrunner two-yard line before Holbrook’s defense stopped them on fourth down. Holbrook’s first play was a bad snap resulting in a Darren Justman sack in the endzone giving the visitors the 2-0 lead.
Tuba City then used a six-play drive capped by a five-yard touchdown pass to extend their lead to 8-0 midway through the second. Holbrook’s next possession looked good until they coughed the ball up at Tuba City’s three-yard line giving the ball back to the Warriors.
Daniel John stopped the next Tuba drive with an interception setting up Holbrook on their own 46-yard line. Six plays later Matthias Montijo found the endzone from nine yards out. The two-point conversion failed leaving Holbrook trailing 6-8.
Tuba City’s next possession also ended with a pick, this time by William Kinds who returned to near midfield with less than a minute left in the half.
Justman made a short connection to Simeon Shaw in the final seconds of the half putting Holbrook on top 12-8 with the failed point after.
Early in the third quarter, Holbrook put together a six-play 51-yard drive ending with a Montijo one-yard plunge. Baler Reidhead’s PAT gave Holbrook a 19-8 lead.
That lead was quickly shortened by the Warriors who needed only three plays to go 69 yards putting points on the board with a short pass, closing the gap to 19-14.
Justman engineered a six-play drive that ended in his best pass of the night. His 50-yard bomb to Chance Sahmie put Holbrook up 25-14 late in the third quarter.
Tuba City didn’t go away. They recovered a Holbrook fumble then again scored quickly closing the gap to 25-20. Holbrook put the final nail in the coffin late in the fourth quarter with a 16-yard connection from Justman to John posting the final points of the night in Holbrook’s 31-20 win, securing them a spot in the 2A playoffs.
Justman completed eight of his nine pass attempts for 146 yards, with three touchdowns and no picks. Shaw was his favorite target collecting four passes for 65 yards with a score. Sahmie caught one for 50 yards and a score. John also had just one catch going for a 15-yard score. Kinds and Montijo each had an eight-yard catch.
Montijo was a workhorse who led Holbrook’s strong rushing attack with 213 yards on 29 carries. He found the endzone twice. Manny Rico gained 70 yards with hard running on 10 attempts. Shaw had one two-yard carry.
Christian Lerma led the defensive unit with 12 tackles. Rico had nine and Justman finished with eight.
Holbrook will now travel to San Tan Charter on Friday night to take on the top-ranked Roadrunners. The two teams share a mascot but that is about their only similarity other than good quarterback play. San Tan is unbeaten on the year, with a quarterback who has thrown for over 1,600 yards with 25 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Holbrook’s Justman has thrown for 1,865 yards with 28 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
San Tan Charter has played a much tougher schedule during the season. Three of their opponents are in the final 16-team bracket. Holbrook has just one opponent, St Johns, in the bracket.
As the top seed, San Tan gets to host this game meaning Holbrook will be on the bus to the Valley. That will give the higher-seeded Roadrunners an advantage. Their overall strength of schedule will be tough for Holbrook to overcome to advance in the bracket.
If Holbrook can pull off the rare No. 16 over No. 1 upset, they will face either No. 9 Willcox or No. 8 Scottsdale Prep next Friday.
