YUMA, AZ – It’s the oldest continuous football rivalry in the state of Arizona. But for the past three seasons, the annual meeting between Yuma and Kofa had become a bit one-sided.
That changed Friday night.
Loaded with a roster of seniors who had never beaten the Criminals, Kofa took advantage of a banged up Yuma group with a 20-0 home victory Friday night.
For the Kings (5-1), the game was a culmination of sorts, particularly for their veteran-laden lineup that suffered through a winless 2015 season and three straight lopsided losses to their cross-town rival.
“I couldn’t be prouder of those guys,” Kofa head coach Ben Franz said. “You know, it wasn’t the prettiest game, but they got it done. They got it done in front of their home crowd. They’re continuing to prove people wrong every week.”
On Friday, the Kings overcame 14 accepted penalties and a blocked extra point, and recovered four of their own fumbles to record their second shutout of the year. David Castaneda rushed for a game-high 178 yards on 20 carries, including popping a 47-yard touchdown on the second play from scrimmage and breaking away for a 42-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
The Criminals (1-4) were playing without starting quarterback Alex Guerra, who is sidelined with an injury to his right wrist, opened the game with a failed onside kick attempt that set Kofa up at their own 46. Kofa quarterback Zac Miller found Castaneda for a 7-yard gain on a middle screen and on the next snap, Castaneda burst through the line, broke a tackle and was off to the races up the right sideline.
“[It was] just a huge weight off of my back and off of my shoulders to be able to put that first one in and just gain the momentum right away,” Franz said.
Yuma, though, hung around. They gained at least one first down on each of their first five possessions, including a 17-play, nearly 8-minute drive in the second quarter that ended on downs at the Kofa 5-yard line after quarterback Isaac Ignacio’s pass to Erik Flores in the left corner of the end zone was ruled out of bounds despite Flores’ diving effort.
“They had their opportunities,” Franz said. “And our defense was able to push them back and that shows that our guys had composure and they had poise out there and, again, that just comes down to the discipline that we’ve been preaching all year.”
Kofa gained 239 yards on the ground, but Yuma’s defense was stout enough to force four punts and half another Kings drive on downs.
“The defense played hard,” Yuma head coach Curt Weber said. “A couple of missed tackles on those runs in the first half and that was the ballgame really. But assignment-wise I was pretty happy with them. They kept us in it.”
With the score 13-0 late in the third quarter, Yuma missed arguably their best opportunity. After an Anthony Mosqueda punt bounced off of return-man Ariel Beal’s hands the Criminals had a shot at recovering the ball inside the Kings’ 40, but the ball squirted out of defender’s hands and touched the sideline before three Yuma players dove on it. Two plays later, Castaneda fumbled but the Kings also pounced on it.
So went the night for the Criminals, who committed 15 penalties and were routinely playing behind the chains on offense.
Running back and linebacker Isaiah Joya finished with 75 yards on 21 carries, Ignacio went 6-for-17 for 51 yards and one interception, and Flores had five catches for 46 yards for the Criminals. Miller rushed for 53 yards and a 3-yard touchdown that essentially clinched the game with 6:51 left in the fourth and was 7-for-11 passing for 42 yards. He also nabbed his third interception in the past two games as the team’s starting free safety.
