Senior Juan Ruiz ran for two touchdowns Friday, Sept. 16, as Mingus Union High School cruised to its second win in a row, 35-14, at Lee Williams High School.
“You take what the defense is giving you,” Young said after the Marauders, in their Grand Canyon Region opener, scored 35 points for the second straight game. “When the other team scores less than that, it’s nice.”
Ruiz combined for 129 rushing and receiving yards to go with an interception, one of three turnovers claimed by the Marauders [2-2].
Despite being keyed on after a 203-yard rushing effort Sept. 9 helped upset Cactus High School, senior Jason Groth ran for a touchdown and added 141 all-purpose yards.
Senior Alejandro Stabreff added an interception and a score on the ground to help MUHS bolt to a 21-0 first quarter lead.
The Marauders were never really threatened despite three turnovers, including the first of two interceptions of senior quarterback Trey Meyer that would be returned 25 yards to his own 20, setting up the lone first half score for the Volunteers [2-2].
“The only scores that they got [were] basically off turnovers,” said Young, whose skill backs also fumbled twice. “We were a little sloppy — sloppier than last week, that’s for sure.”
Young was also dissatisfied with missed assignments by his blockers as well as the amount of penalty yards racked up by his offense, which wasn’t as sharp, he added, as it was in its first win Sept. 9.
“We’ve been really good this year,” Young said. “I think we had two holding penalties, three pass interference calls against us, little things.”
A commanding 28-7 halftime lead preserved depth and the health of a Marauders team that Young said is still counting on a lot of sophomores, including Alex Nelson, who had a sack and a fumble recovery to go with 72 rushing yards on just three carries.
But Meyer’s passing is something else Young would like to count on against tougher 4A Conference opponents.
“He needs to get back to stepping into his throws,” said Young, who cited the ball being underthrown as the reason behind both interceptions. “His first couple of games, he was gun-shy and throwing off his back leg a little bit.”
Meyer only missed three other completions on his way to 207 passing yards on the night, including a five-yard scoring strike to junior Justin Link.
“He got good reads, he has a good grasp of the offense [and] he does a good job leading,” Young added.
