The Desert View Jaguars won the cat fight in the desert against the Sahuaro Cougars by a score of 45-7 on Friday night.
Jaylee Abraham stood out having more than 180 all-purpose yards, including 160 rushing yards, and five touchdowns. The Jaguars also had multiple stops on fourth down.
It was the 47th Annual Rick Botkin Memorial Game, the longest-standing memorial for an individual player in the nation. Botkin is a former standout quarterback for Sahuaro who died in an automobile accident when he was a senior almost 50 years ago.
“We have to make sure we don’t look ahead, we have a game tonight,” Bonillas said before the game. “I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
It was evident his team felt the same way, with its first offensive play being Abraham’s 31-yard touchdown run.
After a second touchdown by Abraham, Sahuaro answered with its lone score of the night, cutting into the lead 13-7 thanks to a strong 2-yard run and point-after from Julian Perez.
Abraham went on to score two more touchdowns and the Jaguars led 27-7 at halftime.
The Jaguars, and more specifically Abraham, went on to have another two touchdowns before the night was over. He also had a receiving touchdown.
When asked how he prepares, Abraham said, “Work out at five in the morning, go home, take a nap and then go with my team to practice.”
Despite the win, Desert View is not satisfied.
“We have to watch film tomorrow, clean up the mistakes, and get back to work on Monday,” Bonillas said.
Bonillas did not shy away from giving Abraham his flowers for the night, saying, “He became one of our leaders. He leads by example. He helps out his teammates, a good student.”
Desert View will host Phoenix Camelback on Friday while Sahuaro hosts Peoria.
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