In its final warmup for Division III, Section VIII rival Bradshaw Mountain High School, Mingus Union High School cruised over Moon Valley High School, 51-20.
Following the Friday, Sept. 25, blowout, all head coach Bob Young did was refocus his deep arsenal of offensive weapons on the quick defense of the Bears, who will be the sectional opener for both teams Friday, Oct. 2, at MUHS.
“They’re a great team,” said senior slotback Tristan Clark, who caught four passes for 114 yards and a touchdown. “It’s definitely our biggest game of the year, coming up.
“We’re going to have to have better pass protection and pass a lot more than we did [Sept. 25].”
Senior Anthony Accurso ran for two touchdowns and caught another to go with an interception as the Marauders cruised to a 44-7 lead, emptying their bench less than halfway through the third quarter at Bright Field.
“We had a couple good weeks of practice,” Young said. “They had to move their best receiver to quarterback last week, so that changes the whole complexion of your offense in one week. That’s tough.”
Senior quarterback Jordan Upham, who threw for 165 yards and three touchdowns, also ran for 58 yards, spreading the wealth to eight other rushers who rolled up 259 more yards on the ground.
Accurso was the big-play rusher, averaging more than 20 yards per run on just five carries and starting the scoring for the Marauders at the 7:45 mark of the first quarter on a four-yard pitchout.
He was also a weapon in an expanded MUHS air attack that included junior tight end Trevor Galloway, who hauled in a touchdown pass less than 30 seconds later after junior Josh Scalf recovered the first of his two forced fumbles on the Rockets’ 15-yard-line.
For the full story and standings, please see the Wednesday, Sept. 30, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
