Although short handed, Pusch Ridge topped Sabino on Friday night to win their fourth straight.
Behind a dominant second half, No. 6 Pusch Ridge (5-1, 4-0 3A East) topped No. 13 Sabino 33-7 in the match-up of the only 3A teams in the Tucson area.
“They’re a tough team; they had a real tough schedule this year and they’ve lost some real close games with two teams that are high in the rankings and we knew their defense was going to be really good and they were, they slowed us down quite a bit,” said PRCA head coach Kent Middleton. “So I give a lot of credit to him (Sabino coach Ryan McBrayer), but then I get credit for us because we bounced back and got these stuff done that we want to get done.
“It was a good game, but physical game.”
Sabino dropped to 2-4, 1-1 in the region but their four losses are to No. 5 Chandler Valley Christian, No. 4 Gilbert Christian, 4A No. 25 Sahuaro and PRCA.
Since losing 42-31 to current No. 9 Queen Creek Crismon on Sept. 4, Pusch Ridge has won four in a row.
With the win, the Lions even the all-time series with Sabino 5-5, having won four of the last five games against the Sabercats.
“Sabino’s a very, very tough opponent and just the fact that they’re super close, they’re also in our conference, they are in 3A, it just makes it such a fun game to come out and just give it to them and hit them and then pick them back up and it’s just a lot of fun,” said PRCA senior Levi Adcock. “And we all come out here as a team and we lead as a team, so it’s a lot of fun and these guys are all brothers in Christ, even if they’re on another team, so we just we treat them like that, but we beat them in football and then we help them up.”
Senior Kamden Cummins kicked a 35-yard field goal to give Pusch Ridge a 13-7 lead going into halftime and then the Lions took over the game, outscoring Sabino 20-0 in the final 24 minutes.
“I think we made a couple adjustments at halftime with some of the stuff that we were doing running the ball but still, they still they made us earn every down and I think we just executed a little bit better, but that doesn’t take anything away from them,” Middleton said. “That’s a good defense.”
Sophomore Marshall Williamson showed off the Lions’ depth with a 37-yard touchdown run in the third.
Although down to their fourth and fifth string tailbacks, Middleton said they have kept winning thanks to the back up backs, the offensive line, offensive coordinator Brent Bartz and staying focused.
“We’re dressing 26 players now, so we’ve lost a lot of kids to injuries and these kids are just gritty, you know, they’re just gritty. they buckle it up and play hard,” Middleton said. “I think one of the big things is we don’t overlook anybody because we can’t, you just can’t do that. I mean, the next team on your schedule is the most important game you play and we take them all very, very, very serious and our kids respond to that.
“So we’re, we’re 6-1 right now, but we’re 0-0 starting Monday.”
Next, PRCA junior Joshua Wolters added a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown.
Pusch Ridge got up to 33 points thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run by Vincent Plimpton, set up by an interception by senior Braydan Nolan.
The Lions’ defense has allowed seven points or less three times this year.
“Shout out coach Dresch (Jeff Drescher) for an amazing defensive plan, it was awesome, shout out Josh for awesome picks, that was worth it, perfect,” Adcock said. And shout out Braydan Nolan for a great tip drill and great run, it was a great effort.
“Shout out Vincent, everyone did a great job, but it was awesome.”
Up next for Sabino is No. 28 Buckeye Odyssey Institute (1-4, 0-2 3A West) at home on Friday. According to azfootballarchives.com, it’s the first time the Sabercats have played the Minotaurs.
Pusch Ridge next travels to No. 12 Coolidge (3-3, 1-1 3A East) on Friday. The Lions can clinch the 3A East title with a victory.
The Bears are tied for third in the region with Sabino and among three teams in the East with one loss in region play.
“It’s a tough region and Coolidge is playing a lot better football this year, they’ve been in every game that they’ve played and they’ve won quite a few,” Middleton said. “It’s always been tough in Florence (in that area), Florence gave us a battle, we were lucky to get off that field with a winner at Florence.
“And that kind of winning that close game kind of projected us, I think, into these last two games, so it’s kind of a breather — whew — we got away with that one. Now we can go get these next ones.”
PRCA beat Florence 28-24 in the second game of their current streak.
Recommended for you
