and Sam Conner
Holbrook’s game with Winslow last Friday night went much the way of the lion’s share of the past I-40 meetings between these two schools with the Bulldogs claiming yet another win, this time by a 34-0 final score. The Roadrunners had too many turnovers and Winslow had too much Akeem Foster, among others. The Birds turned the ball over four times, twice on their only times inside Winslow’s 30 yard line, with both ending potential drives.
On the other side of the ball the Bulldogs racked up 349 yards on the ground, with Foster accounting for 144 of those yards on 17 attempts. Mikel Bonner also broke the century mark, gaining 112 yards on 18 totes. While the Bulldogs had two players over 100 yards on the ground, Holbrook’s offense was held to only 99 total yards in the game.
Winslow’s first score came on its first possession, a six-play, 60-yard drive capped by Foster’s five-yard run with 9:49 left in the first. Foster accounted for all but eight yards on the drive. The conversion failed and the Bulldogs had a 6-0 lead.
Winslow scored with 1:53 left in the quarter on a 15-yard scoring toss from Rey Chavez-Velez to Darrien “Peanut” Brown. The reception capped a 12-play, 71-yard drive, putting Winslow on top 12-0.
Holbrook tried to counter that score by pushing the ball inside Winslow’s territory on a nice run by Zakhari Waits, but a fumble put an end to the threat. A 70-yard pass from Velez to Brown was negated by a penalty and the team took a 12-0 lead into the second quarter.
Winslow took advantage of a second Holbrook fumble, leaving them with a short field. Velez found Nate Hollins just four plays later on a 10-yard pass, pushing the lead to 20-0 with Brown’s two-point run.
The Bulldogs took advantage of a short punt that gave them the ball on the Holbrook 35 yard line to score again with 3:50 left in the half on a 13-yard run by Bonner, making the halftime score 26-0.
Most of the third quarter was played on even terms. Holbrook pulled down a pass interception with just over four minutes left in the period, but when the quarter ended, the Bulldogs still held their 26-0 lead.
The Bulldogs scored the final points of the game midway through the fourth quarter on a six-yard run by Brown. Bonner broke through the line for the conversion, finishing the scoring at 34-0.
For Holbrook, Cade Maestas was seven for 11 through the air for 47 yards with two interceptions. Scottie Gishie caught two balls for 19 yards. Danny Gonzales had one catch for 12 yards. Miah Perry had a seven-yard reception. Wazuri Waits and Julian Garcia each had a four-yard catch, and Zakhari Waits caught one ball for a yard.
Zakhari Waits led the rushing game with 35 yards on seven rushes. Maestas carried five times for 10 yards. Danny Gonzales carried twice for six yards, and Julian Garcia had one rush for a yard.
Jedde Bowman led Holbrook’s defense, which spent a lot of the game on the field, with 16 total tackles. Garcia finished with 13 and Gishie had seven takedowns.
The Holbrook junior varsity defeated the jayvee Bulldogs 20-6 the night before in Winslow.
Holbrook, now 1-1, will travel to Chino Valley tonight (Sept. 11) for a matchup with the 0-2 Cougars.
Winslow will have its hands full tonight. The Bulldogs host their first home game against the Wickenburg Wranglers. The Wranglers lost their opener to Dysart, 42-34, but defeated Glendale 29-6 last weekend.
