Holbrook traveled to Scottsdale Prep on Saturday, where they played well but came up 4 points short in a 28-24 loss to the Spartans.
Scottsdale’s quarterback Will Ryken wasn’t much of a passing threat, but on the ground, he was a load for Holbrook’s defense to handle. The senior piled up 188 yards on 23 carries, finding the endzone for all four of the Spartan touchdowns. He completed just 5 passes for 89 yards. Holbrook also picked off 2 passes with Simeon Shaw hauling in both picks.
Scottsdale scored on its first possession of the game, going up 7-0, with the point after kick. They added to that lead later in the first, going on top 14-0.
Holbrook answered when Darren Justman hooked up with Shaw on a 76-yard catch and run. Matthias Montijo punched in the 2-point conversion, and Holbrook closed the gap to 14-8.
Scottsdale’s big quarterback scored the third of his four touchdowns on a 35-yard run up the middle, extending the Spartan lead back to 22-8.
Holbrook put together a 12-play drive, eventually scoring on a fourth down and 12-play with a 19-yard touchdown catch by Shaw. Montijo’s conversion run made the score 22-16 at the half.
The Spartans extended that lead to 28-16 with another quarterback run in the third quarter. Holbrook was hit with the turnover bug in the quarter, stalling a couple of drives. In the fourth, Justman and Shaw hooked up for the final time, closing the gap to 28-24.
Scottsdale Prep was able to take advantage of one final Holbrook turnover, then essentially ran the clock out to send the Roadrunners to their second loss of the season.
Shaw was busy on both sides of the ball. Along with the two interceptions, he was also Justman’s favorite target, finishing the night with 3 touchdown receptions. Justman passed for 216 yards with 3 scores and 1 interception. Jonathan Sample had two passes for 17 yards and also threw a pick.
Shaw finished with 201 receiving yards, 5 rushing yards, 118 kick return yards, 3 solo tackles and 3 assisted tackles, along with 2 interceptions.
Montijo had 16 receiving yards, 116 rushing yards, and scored all three 2-point conversion runs.
This week is homecoming at Holbrook High School the 3-2 Roadrunners will host 2A North Pinon for the homecoming game on Friday night. The traditional week of homecoming activities will precede the game. Holbrook defeated Pinon 26-24 on one of the final plays of the game last year. This year, the Eagles are also 3-2, having dropped two straight, including a 28-0 shutout loss to Chinle last week.
Even though four weeks remain in the regular season, this game will most likely determine who will win the North 1 division of the 2A North, which is divided into two sub-regions this year. Based on the results of the previous two weeks, Holbrook should easily have the upper hand on Friday night.
