The Blue Ridge Yellowjackets defeated the Winslow Bulldogs 45-7 in the final regular season game in Winslow on Friday. The Yellowjackets will enter the playoffs with a perfect 10-0 record for the regular season and will likely be the top ranked team in the division. Winslow finished the regular season with a 7-3 record and a No. 5 ranking. The Bulldogs will host No. 12 Parker in a playoff game slated at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4.
Winslow played well, but was hurt by the loss of Henry Montiel to an injury during the second quarter. Montiel is a major receiver for the Bulldogs, a dangerous running back and an excellent defensive back. Winslow will need his return to expect success in the playoffs.
Good defense has been a key to Blue Ridge success all season and that remained an important asset in the Yellowjackets’ final regular season game.
The Bulldogs drove to the Blue Ridge 15 yard line on their first possession before losing the ball on downs, but things got better quickly when Montiel returned a punt to the Yellowjacket 28 yard line. Montiel then scored the first touchdown of the game on a six-yard pass from James Martinez and Jonathan Oso’s conversion gave Winslow a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Blue Ridge tied the score on a 34-yard pass from Skyler Hill to Dan Groebner to complete a 69-yard drive. Groebner booted the conversion to tie the score at 7-7, which was the score at the end of the first period.
The Yellowjackets scored early in the second quarter on a 22-yard run by Chans Cox. The conversion failed and Blue Ridge led 13-7.
The Blue Ridge defense set up the next score when Groebner returned an intercepted pass to the Winslow one yard line. Cox scored on the next play and Groebner ran for a two-point conversion and a 21-7 lead.
Hill completed a 51-yard drive for the Yellowjackets with a three-yard run to paydirt. The drive came after the Yellowjackets recovered an onside kick. The conversion increased the lead to 28-7, which was the score when the first half ended.
The Yellowjackets opened the second half scoring with a 27-yard field goal by Groebner to increase their lead to 31-7.
Hill passed 27 yards to Adam Webb for a touchdown on the next Blue Ridge possession and the conversion increased their lead to 38-7, which was the score at the end of the third quarter.
The Yellowjackets drove 82 yards and Andrew Montoya ran five yards for the first score of the fourth quarter. The conversion by Webb increased Blue Ridge’s lead to 45-7.
A Blue Ridge runner ran out of bounds intentionally near the Winslow end zone to keep from running up the score. The quarterback took a knee several more times before the game ended as a 45-7 Blue Ridge victory.
Winslow’s only losses for the season were to the top three teams in the division: Blue Ridge, Snowflake and Show Low. Blue Ridge is undefeated. Snowflake lost only to Blue Ridge, and Show Low lost only to Blue Ridge and Snowflake.
