For the second successive week, Mingus Union High School’s football team came up with a big win in the Grand Canyon Region.
For the second successive week, it won behind a suffocating defense and strong run game, beating longtime rival Flagstaff High School 41-10 at home on Friday, Oct. 13.
“We’re getting better. You can just see the last two weeks, everybody’s healthy and we’re starting to get on the same page and we’re feeding off of our defense,” Marauders head coach Bob Young said. “We’re able to run the ball, so we’re just getting better. It’s better late than never at the end of the season.”
The Marauders [4-4, 4-1] are now in first place with Flagstaff, Bradshaw Mountain High School and Prescott High School all tied at 3-1.
Mingus’ defense held the Eagles [6-2, 3-1] to seven total first downs, and just one in the first half. The front seven, led by the linebacker duo of senior Justin Link and junior Kendrew Streck, were in the backfield all night.
Coming into the game, Mingus had won 10 of its last 11 matchups with Flagstaff. It improved to 11 of 12 despite Flagstaff having one if its better teams in recent years.
“It’s huge. Every year we come out, doesn’t matter who’s on our schedule, Flag is always circled. We always want to beat Flag. That’s our thing — beat Flag,” Link said. “It’s been our rival for forever. Coming out and putting the beating on them that we did, it means a lot.”
The Eagles had run the ball with success all year long, but could not get going on this occasion. Junior quarterback Henry Tagle was consistently pressured and knocked down, and junior running back Jaiden Legaspi was held in check.
“I think our front seven on defense, because these guys have been able to run the ball on everybody, the defensive line and linebackers pretty much stuffed the run all night long so they set the tone for the whole game,” Young said.
Meanwhile on offense, the running back duo of senior Tyler Kelly and junior Alex Nelson continued off of their 538-yard rushing performance at Prescott the week prior, combining to score three of the team’s six touchdowns on the ground.
A big factor in the recent success has been Mingus’ linemen, who were one of the question marks heading into the season. Now eight weeks in, they have shown growth.
“Obviously they’re all sophomores and juniors, and at the beginning of the year they got beat up and humiliated and they continue to get better. Coach Phil Cromer, who coaches the offensive line, he’s just been really good and patient as far as teaching techniques,” Young said. “The great news is they’re all coming back.”
Mingus jumped out to a quick start, leading 14-0 with seven minutes left in the first quarter. It received the opening kickoff and drove 56 yards in three minutes and 42 seconds to get on the board.
Kelly fumbled but miraculously recovered the ball despite a handful of Flagstaff defenders in the vicinity. Nelson took the next handoff 26 yards to score, but the two-point conversion failed.
Marauders junior defensive back Colby Fanning picked off Tagle on the Eagles’ second play from scrimmage, and junior quarterback Antoine Zabala found junior wide receiver Chaz Taylor for a 41-yard strike on the very next play.
Mingus forced two Eagle punts before its next score. Kelly and Nelson switched off carrying the ball downfield before senior running back Martin Soria took a pitch to the right 11 yards untouched to open a 20-0 lead with 9:55 left in the second.
The teams traded fumbles on consecutive plays, the Marauders recovering the second loose ball, and nearly turned it into points.
A flag took away another Kelly touchdown, and Mingus turned it over on downs, its second of three turnovers for the night.
Neither team scored, and the Marauders headed into the locker room up 20-0.
The Eagles went three-and-out to open the second half, and Nelson carried in a 68-yard touchdown on Mingus’ first play to go up 27-0.
Flagstaff got its second first down of the game on the next drive on a pitch to junior tail back Jose Morrow, and Tagle found junior receiver Michael Becenti Jr. for another, but the drive eventually stalled.
Later on Kelly capped a five-yard, all rushing series with a 23-yard scamper to put his team up 34-0, and the game effectively out of hand, with 1:16 left in the third.
In the fourth quarter Kelly coughed the ball up, and Flagstaff junior linebacker Josh Thomas scooped it up for the score to cut the lead to 34-7. Kelly made up for it right away, taking the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a 41-7 lead.
Eagles sophomore kicker Oscar Castruita tacked on a 47-yard field goal for the 47-10 final.
Region Run-in
Mingus travels to Coconino High School for its last region game on Friday, Oct. 20. The remaining contenders are Flagstaff, which in its final two weeks goes to Prescott before hosting Coconino.
Prescott also hosts Bradshaw Mountain on Oct. 27. The Flagstaff versus Prescott game will play a huge part in determining how the cards fall for the region title.
