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No. 4 Badgers open season with a 37-28
win in Scottsdale
Badgers Score 21 consecutive points to
claim the victory
SCOTTSDALE –Earlier in the day the No. 4 ranked
Snow College Badgers learned that all three of
the teams ahead of them had lost their opening
contests which opened the door for the Badgers
to potentially claim the top spot in the opening
NJCAA poll next week. Using a consistent running
game and timely third-down conversions in the
second half the Badgers rallied for 37-28
victory over a much improved Scottsdale team in
both teams 2009 opener.
With Butler, Mississippi Gulf Coast and
Ellsworth all dropping games the Badgers an
opening to move up in the polls.
“It is too early to worry about those things,”
said Head Coach Steve Coburn. “Those things will
take of themselves, but this was a great opening
win for our kids tonight.”
The Badgers dominated play for much of the first
half jumping out to an early 7-0 on a 16-yard TD
strike from Sophomore Quarterback Quinn Mecham
to Freshman Dontrae Williams on the Badgers
initial drive of the season. After another good
scoring drive ended with a Ryan McNamara 33-yard
field goal the Badgers went up 10-0. But late in
the first half the momentum shifted.
It began on a fluky third down broken play that
Scottsdale Quarterback Phillip Aholt turned into
a 54-yard pass play that setup the Artichokes
first score. On third and 14 and Aholt in the
shotgun, the snap went wide. Aholt picked it up
and began to run but before reaching the line of
scrimmage he launched a pass to Andrew Magee who
was stopped inside the 10. Three plays later
Aholt and Magee hooked up again on a 9-yard
play.
The Artichokes struck again with just 15 seconds
remaining in the first half when Aholt found
Tight End Renty Williams on a 5-yard fade route.
Scottsdale missed the extra point but went into
the locker room with a 13-10 lead.
“We knew they had some momentum going into the
locker room,” said Coburn. “There was no panic
but we knew we had to clean up a few things.”
It looked early as though Scottsdale had the
answers coming out of halftime and scoring less
than a minute into the third quarter on a quick
strike 76-yard catch and run from Aholt to Jamie
Cobb. However, Cobb’s celebration penalty as he
high-stepped into the end-zone may have been the
turning point of the contest. Even though
Scottsdale owned a 20-10 lead the Badgers got
great field position and 53 seconds later had
cut the lead to 20-17 when Mecham hooked up with
Freshman DJ Lester on a 15-yard strike.
The Badgers took the lead for good moments later
when Mecham connected with fullback Ryan Butler
hauled in a 5-yard TD catch late in the third
the Badgers had built a 24-20 lead.
However, Scottsdale went right back to work and
marched down the field but a great Badger
defensive stand inside their own 10 lead to a
blocked field goal attempt by Sophomore Gavin
Jones.
And when Sophomore running back Tyson Church
scored on a 9-yard play early in the fourth
quarter it appeared the Badgers had taken
command with a 31-20 lead.
“Once we got a little rhythm things started to
click,” said Coburn.
The Artichokes weren’t finished. After the
Badger defense forced a punt backing the Badgers
inside their own 10, Timothy Baker scooped up a
BJ Mckenzie fumble and rumbled 12 yards make the
game interesting. After a reverse pass 2-point
conversion the Badger lead was cut to 31-28.
The Badger offense then went on a championship
style drive taking more than five minutes and
converting on three third down conversions, none
more important than a 16-yard play on
third-and-9 from Mecham to Sophomore tight end
Jeremy Sondrup from inside their own 30.. And
when Mecham threw his fifth TD pass of the
evening, a beautiful 31-yard strike to Williams,
the Badgers had completed a hard-fought opening
game win.
“It is always tough to play Scottsdale,” said a
relieved Coburn. “They play hard and are
well-coached. I thought our kids resiliency and
willingness to make plays when it mattered most
were the key tonight. We have a lot of work
ahead of us but an opening win like that is
great for our kids.”
Mecham was steady if not spectacular connecting
on 17-31 for 295 yards and five Touchdowns.
Church rushed for 105 yards on 20 carries and
added another 90 yards on four receptions to
lead the offense.
Linebacker Chad Willson sacked Aholt three times
and fellow linebacker Brayden Stembridge caused
and recovered a Scottsdale fumble to lead a new
yet extremely active defense that gave up only 4
yards rushing in the contest.
Next up is a match-up with #24 Arizona Western.
The game will mark the season opener for the
Badgers who haven’t lost at home since the 2005
season. The game will kickoff at 3 PM and will
be preceded by a Dixie vs. Uintah High School
game at 10 AM. Tickets are available and all
attendees will be able to see both games for the
price of one.
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