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Originally posted to the web in Sports, on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:37 AM CST.
Wranglers face Payson in battle of unbeatens
When describing Wickenburg High School’s state playoff semifinal contest against Payson this Saturday (Nov. 22) as big, make sure to put a heavy emphasis on the word “big.” “We’re big, but they make us look little,” noted Wickenburg head coach Norris Vaughan. “They look like the Green Bay Packers, size-wise.” The Longhorns also have another dozen players who weigh more than 200 pounds and/or are taller than 6-0. The Wranglers, meanwhile, have only five additional players who fit that stature. Then there’s the debate of East vs. West. While both the Wranglers (West) and Longhorns (East) won their respective region titles -- each with only one close game (Wickenburg vs. Chino Valley, 14-7; and Payson vs. Blue Ridge, 13-7) -- Payson is given the nod as favorite due to its tougher regular season schedule and finishing the regular season as the No. 1-ranked team on the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s Power Points standings (compared to Wickenburg’s No. 4 ranking). “Most people don’t think we have a chance to win (against Payson),” Vaughan said during his weekly radio interview on local station KBSZ, “but our kids play hard. They (Longhorns) are not only big but they are quick too, and they have the best defense we have seen this year.” Along with matching up the size of players and the perfect records of both squads, comparing their styles of offense are also similar. “They play power football and run the option,” Vaughan reported, “but that’s what we do, too.” So fans who attend Saturday night’s game at Paradise Valley High School (7 p.m.) can expect to watch two “big” teams sticking to a bruising running game. Besides the comparison of fairly good-sized quarterbacks Dallas Mills of Wickenburg (6-3, 185) and Ridge Halenar of Payson (5-10, 200), the running backs of both teams mirror each other’s. Wickenburg pits the slashing styles of Sheldon Murphy (average of 110 yards in two playoff games) and Enrique Bernal (77-yard season average) against the slippery-quick style of Payson’s Brandon Alexander (75-yard season average) and Payson Herring (70). Then there’s the bullish power rushing of Wickenburg’s Chance Thompson (100-yard season average) compared to Payson’s Carlen (80). Neither team can be expected to pass much, but both certainly could unveil at least a couple surprise aerial plays to loosen up the opponents’ stubborn front-line defense. The Wranglers advanced to the semifinals with a 37-13 quarterfinal victory against Round Valley last Saturday (Nov. 15) at Mesa High School. Payson followed with a 36-19 victory against fellow East Region foe Snowflake. A halftime adjustment by the Wranglers contained the most prolific passing attack in the state 3A conference, and a handful of big offensive plays vaulted Wickenburg its victory against Round Valley. It’s the third time in the past four years (last year being the exception) the Wranglers have advanced to the state’s Final Four. They lost to Coolidge in the 2005 semifinals and then fell to the Bears again in the championship game in 2006. Last year, ironically, Wickenburg failed to move into the semifinals after losing to Round Valley in the quarterfinals. But not this time. After he completed 11 of 18 passes for 129 yards for one touchdown in the first half, Round Valley quarterback Hayden Eagar tossed two interceptions and failed to complete even one of his five aerials in the third quarter against an adjusted Wickenburg secondary. Then although he completed 9 of 14 passes for 88 yards in the fourth period, Eagar still couldn’t get the Elks into the end zone again. “We planned to use two types of defenses in the secondary,” reported Coach Vaughan. “We used the zone in the first half but didn’t use our combination of man-to-man and zone coverage until the second half because we didn’t want them (Elks) to adjust to it at halftime. “We also kept showing different linebackers blitzing, so I think he (Eagar) was really confused,” Vaughan added. The 3A’s leading passer the past couple years ended the night with 20 completions in 37 attempts for 217 yards, but he also hurled three interceptions and was sacked four times. Eagar had trouble finding his receivers open against the scrappy combination coverage, and he had shake off another three or four potential sacks throughout the game. Meanwhile, Wickenburg used its punishing ground game to convert a 16-13 halftime lead into a runaway with another TD in the third quarter and two more in the fourth. Murphy scored three times after carrying the pigskin 17 times for 119 yards, while Thompson entered the end zone twice after covering 190 yards on 15 carries. Wickenburg scored first when Eagar was surprised by a center snap while in his shotgun formation at the Elks 25 yard line during his team’s first possession of the game. Unable to grab the errant snap, the Round Valley quarterback purposely booted the ball through the end zone for a safety in order to avoid a Wrangler recovery and possible score. The Elks, however, responded later in the quarter with a 30-yard TD run and took a 6-2 lead. Taking advantage of a Round Valley muffed punt reception, the Wranglers used a surprise play to set up its second touchdown early in the second quarter. A halfback pass on a reverse from Chad Peterson to Jordan Pollei -- good for 27 yards -- came on a fourth-and-19 situation at the Round Valley 34 yard line. Two plays later, Murphy ran the ball in from four yards out to give Wickenburg an 8-6 advantage. Then immediately after Manuel Harmon intercepted an Eagar pass, Thompson busted through the condensed Elk defense and sprinted 81 yards to the end zone in the second period to give the Wranglers’ its 16-6 cushion. The Elks scored one more time prior to halftime. Dustin Denmark’s snagging of Eagar’s second intercepted pass set up Murphy’s nine-yard TD run early in the third period, and the Wrangler defense successfully made Eagar go 0-for-5 the rest of the quarter. It was a Pollei interception in the third period that set up Wickenburg’s next touchdown on the first play of the fourth period - a one-yard run by Murphy, and then the Wranglers iced the victory with a score at the 2:52 mark. |
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