What may well have been the first Saturday evening meeting for the battle of I-40 between Holbrook and Winslow football teams was pretty much dominated on Sept. 2 by the Bulldogs, who left Holbrook with a 35-6 win.
Winslow opened the scoring late in the first period on a short two-yard run by Bryce Williams. The conversion failed, leaving them with the 6-0 lead. Winslow’s special teams got into the act, blocking a Holbrook punt which Jake Barton returned 50 yards, pushing the Bulldog lead to 12-0. The rest of the night pretty much went Winslow’s way.
Holbrook had their chances as they were set up inside Winslow’s 30-yard line but time ran out, sending the teams to the break with Winslow on top 12-0.
In the third, a second blocked punt gave Winslow the ball inside Holbrook’s 15-yard line and they took advantage with Ty Despain going in from 10 yards out pushing the lead to 20-0 with a successful conversion. Holbrook quickly countered back with William Kinds returning the ensuing kickoff 80 yards, putting Holbrook on the board. The conversion attempt failed leaving the Birds trailing 20-6.
The Bulldogs extended their lead on a short touchdown pass from DeSpain to Dylan Marquez, pushing the margin to 28-6 with the conversion. Winslow’s final points of the night came on a short pass from DeSpain to JoJo Captain. The PAT kick was good, making the final score Winslow 35 and Holbrook 6.
Winslow’s DeSpain completed 7 of 15 passes for 51 yards, with a pair of touchdowns. As a team, they rushed for 205 yards led by Williams who had 18 carries for 80 total yards. DeSpain picked up 73 yards on 11 totes. Rudy Gonzales gained 23 yards on four runs, and Joseph Guerrero gained 17 on just two attempts.
Captain had two catches for 27 yards. Gonzales caught two for 15, and Dylan Marquez had two for five yards.
Holbrook’s offense struggled for most of the night. They finished with only 120 yards of total offense. Daniel John was the leading receiver with two catches for 33 yards. Matthias Montijo led the ground attack, with 63 yards on nine attempts. Tharon James carried four times for 16 total yards.
With the loss, Holbrook drops to 0-2 while Winslow improves their mark to 2-1.
