TEMPE — The Cienega Bobcats are now 2-3 on the season following a 40-14 road loss to Tempe McClintock on Thursday night. Despite the game not going their way, the Bobcats refused to quit and fought until the very end, something coach Justin Argraves says he’s incredibly proud of.
“I think they did a good job,” Argraves said of the team fight in the second half. “They could have came out and turned on each other, but they fought until the very end and I’m proud of them in the second half.”
The first half of the game was riddled with flags for Cienega. The offense really struggled with false starts, with three in the second quarter, while the defense was called twice for offsides. Argraves said this year’s squad is a youthful bunch, which contributed to some of the struggles on the field.
“We’ve got a young team, we’re starting eight underclassmen on offense and eight underclassmen on the defensive side of the ball,” Argraves said. “We’ve got some babies that are still trying to learn and understand the speed of the game and ultimately they’re out there on a Friday night and they can’t make those errors, and I’m the head coach so that goes on me.”
Special teams, however, was a bright spot for the Bobcats, something Argraves says they pride themselves on.
“We kind of pride ourselves on our special teams,” Argraves said. “We work a lot it during practice, probably more so than a lot of teams do. Our kids buy into it and they know it’s a game changer.”
Breaking down the game
McClintock won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. Almost right out of the gate, quarterback Jaxon Knutson was showing off his arm with back-to-back big passes to move the ball down the field to the Cienega 12-yard line. Later on, an offsides call would advance the ball to the six-yard-line before the Chargers capped off the drive with a two yard touchdown run by Edward Walker. The kick by Javier Alvarado was good, putting McClintock on top 7-0 with 9:08 remaining in the first.
Cienega’s opening possession was a short one. After a quick three and out, they punted the ball away.
On McClintock’s following drive, it initially looked as if defense might get a stop, but a huge conversion on third and 15 allowed the Chargers to stay alive. After progressing down the field, they finished it up with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Knutson to Amari Scroggins. The Chargers went for two but couldn’t convert, making it 13-0 with 6:11 still remaining in the first.
A false start flag was thrown on the opening snap of Cienega’s following drive, but the Bobcats were able to battle back. Working their way to the McClintock 30-yard-line, it initially looked like Cienega was going to score, but the pass was dropped in the end zone on third down. Despite it being third and seven, Cienega chose to go for it on fourth down but was not able to convert.
Taking over with just :30 seconds left in the first quarter, it would be a quick trip out on the field for offense thanks to an explosive 51-yard pass from Knutson to Scroggins. Knutson finished off the drive with a two-yard pass to Khalil Bender before a good extra point attempt made it 20-0 with 11:28 left before halftime.
On the kickoff, a great return for Cienega had them starting the drive at their own 49. It didn’t take long before the Bobcats were in the red zone, but a false start call would prove costly. Deciding to go for it on fourth and five, Cienega again couldn’t convert as quarterback Julian Hainley was sacked, turning the ball over on downs at the 20-yard-line with 7:34 left in the half.
McClintock again got to work chopping away at the chains. It only took Knutson a couple of passes to move the ball down to the two-yard-line before the Chargers finished off the drive with a touchdown run from Kemon Jackson. The kick was good, making it 27-0 with 6:24 remaining.
Cienega had another impressive kick return, this time taking it all the way back to the McClintock 40. However, they weren’t able to do much to capitalize on their field position, ultimately turning the ball over at the McClintock 31 after going for it on fourth down.
With their dynamic, fast-paced offense, it only took about two minutes for McClintock to march down the field and score once again. Knutson connected with Jackson for his second touchdown of the night, while Alvarez hammered home the kick to make it 34-0 with 1:46 remaining.
“[McClintock] has an explosive offense,” Argraves said. “They’ve been putting up a lot of what I call video game numbers all season long, so we knew what we were getting ourselves into. They’ve got a pretty special quarterback and a handful of receivers who can make plays.”
Yet again, Cienega found itself in the red zone but wasn’t able to capitalize. Instead, with 12 seconds remaining in the half, Hainley’s pass was tipped by Ma’afu Lama and was picked off by Adam Peterson-Hill. It left time for McClintock to attempt one more pass deep down field that fell incomplete before kneeling the ball down and going into the locker rooms.
“We went in at half time and I told them, ‘Hey, regardless of what happened in the first half, what’s going to determine the type of man you are is how you respond,'” Argraves said. He continued, “‘Are we gonna pout or are we going to keep swinging?'”
The Bobcats got the ball coming back out of the half, but it was a quick three and out. Punting the ball back to McClintock, the Chargers took over at their own 30-yard-line.
It only took them three snaps to move the ball 70 yards down the field, thanks largely to a 48 yard touchdown pass from Knutson to Bender. The extra point was blocked, making it 40-0 with 9:31 remaining.
With a running clock, Cienega and McClintock would then punt it back and forth before the Bobcats would finally be able to capitalize on the drive. Slowly but surely moving the chains down the field, the Bobcats finished off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run from Gabriel Lopez and a good extra point to make it 40-7 with 7:57 remaining in the game.
Cienega defense then went out and forced a quick three and out, its first of the night, to get the ball back at the 44 yard line with 4:30 remaining in the game. Attacking the ground game, Cienega was able to move the ball all the way down the field and finish it off with a 7-yard run for a touchdown from Carmello Davis with 1:21 remaining. The kick was up and in, making the final score 40-14.
Knutson completed 21 of his 30 pass attempts for 394 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.
Hainley was able to complete nine of his 22 passes for approximately 85 yards with one interception on the night. On the ground, Cienega was able to amass a total of around 150 yards, led by Lopez.
“We’re pretty deep at running back and I feel tonight that Lopez stepped up to the plate and did a really good job,” Argraves said. “He had a great week of practice and came out here and did a pretty damn good job in my opinion, so I’m really proud of him tonight.”
What’s next
Cienega will now have three days off to rest and recover before getting back after it next week on Monday. The Bobcats will now have a bye week before playing at Desert View in their 5A Southern opener on Oct. 11.
