By Greg Perkins The long trip to Tucson to face Pusch Ridge on Friday night didn’t have much of an impact on the Lobos at least early on. Snowflake scored in two plays to start the game as Caden Cantrell connected with Noah Baum on an 80-yard catch and run for the first score of the game. Samuel Crockett’s point after gave the Lobos an early 7-0 lead on the road. The Lions answered right back capping their first offensive possession with a 43-yard touchdown pass midway through the opening quarter. The point after kick tied the score at 7-7. After the two teams traded punts, the Lobos moved back in front, late in the first period, with a second hook up between Cantrell and Baum, this time from 25 yards away pushing the lead to 14-7 with Crockett’s kick. Pusch Ridge tied the game with three minutes left in the first half, on a pick six. The Lion’s defender picked off Cantrell and returned it 42 yards for a score. The point-after kick knotted the game at 14-14. Lance Christensen stopped the Lion’s initial second half drive with an interception, giving the ball back to the Lobos. Snowflake’s offense gained some field position but had to punt the ball back to Pusch Ridge. Snowflake’s defense then held the Lions on downs near midfield. Camden Brimhall broke the tie with a short one-yard plunge inside the final minute of the third period, giving the Lobos a 20-14 advantage after the point after kick was missed. Pusch Ridge battled back taking the lead midway through the final period on a short touchdown pass. Their point after kick was good putting the home team ahead 21-20. Just two minutes later Cantrell put his team back in front with a short rushing score. Snowflake went for two but the conversion failed leaving them on top 26-21 with six minutes left in the game. Snowflake’s defense held setting up their offense for a field goal, which was blocked by the Lions. Pusch Ridge used that momentum to move the ball inside Lobo territory but time ran out preserving a 26-21 Snowflake win. Cantrell completed 14 of 25 passes for 261 yards, with a pair of touchdowns and one interception. Baum was his favorite target catching 7 passes for 159 yards with two scores. JJ Lerma caught 2 for 47; Tyler Clare, 1 for 27; Eduardo Guevara, 1 for 14; Camden Brimhall, 2 for 10; and Davyn McCray had one four-yard catch. Cantrell also led the team in rushing, with 63 yards and a score on 12 rushes. Camden Brimhall carried 16 times picking up 42 yards, with a touchdown. Lerma gained 10 yards on three attempts. Snowflake’s defense finished with 8 quarterback sacks, four of which came from Jacob Wagner. Clayton Smith had two sacks. Tony Munoz, and Jordan Mowers each had one. Matthew Brimhall led the defense with 15 tackles. Rhett Wengert and Jacob Wagner each had 13 tackles. With the win, the Lobos improved to 4-1 on the season. This week they will host Coconino. The Panthers have played just twice this season but they are 2-0 including a 49-21 win over Marco de Niza last week.
