Winslow Bulldogs best Wickenburg Wranglers in offensive battle

Winslow Bulldogs Akkeem Foster shakes a tackle on the way to a 50-41 win against Wickenburg Sept. 11. Photo/Todd Roth

Winslow Bulldogs Akkeem Foster shakes a tackle on the way to a 50-41 win against Wickenburg Sept. 11. Photo/Todd Roth

WICKENBURG, Ariz. - The Winslow Bulldogs defeated the Wickenburg Wranglers 50-41 in an offense dominated game Sept. 11. The win improved Winslow's record to 2-1 for the season and dropped Wickenburg to 1-2 for the season.  

The Wranglers had so much trouble on kickoffs that they intentionally kicked the ball out of bounds in the second half despite that giving the Bulldogs good field possession. Neither team punted during the offense dominated game.

Wickenburg took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards in 12 plays and scored on an 11-yard fourth down pass from Keilan James to Tanner Wickham. The conversion by Rolando Ruiz gave the Wranglers a 7-0 lead with 8:21 left in the quarter.

Winslow got a good kickoff return and scored on a 13-yard pass from Rey Velez to Darrien Brown. The conversion failed and Wickenburg still led 7-6 with 6:15 left in the quarter.

The Wranglers drove 70 yards in 17 plays and scored on a five-yard run by Wickham. The conversion gave Wickenburg a 14-6 lead in the closing seconds of the first quarter.

Winslow lost a fumble after another good kickoff return and the Wranglers scored on a 39-yard pass from James to Wickham. The conversion gave the Wranglers a 21-6 lead with 10:37 left in the half.

The Bulldogs came back after another excellent kickoff return and scored on a one-yard run by Akkeem Foster with 5:37 left in the half. A pass from Velez to Brown cut the lead to 21-14.

Wickenburg drove 65 yards to score on a 10-play 65-yard drive.  Keilan James ran 10 yards for the touchdown but failed on a two-point run for the conversion and led 27-1.

Winslow got another good kickoff return and scored on a 27-yard pass from Velez to Brown. A two point conversion pass from Velez to Foster cut the lead to 27-22 at the half.

Wickenburg scored on their first possession of the second half on a three-yard run by Shawn Holden. The conversion failed and then Wranglers led 33-22 with 4:46 left in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs scored on a brilliant 42-yard pass from Velez to Foster and cut the lead to 33-28 at the end of the quarter.

Winslow took its first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter on a   12-yard run by Brown and a two-point pass from Velez to Nate Hollins. The Bulldogs led 36-33 with most of the final period left to play.

Winslow got an important interception by Ricardo Villanueva and drove for a touchdown on a 30-yard run by Villanueva. A two point conversion pass from Velez to Foster gave the Bulldogs a 44-33 lead.

Giancarlo Horcos scored on a one-yard run and a two-point conversion to cut the Winslow lead to 44-41 with over four minutes left to play.

Brown scored on a five-yard run with just less than two minutes left in the game. The conversion pass failed and Winslow led 50-41. The Wickenburg coach was ejected after the play.

Wickenburg drove to near the Winslow goal but fumbled into the end zone. Winslow had the ball at their 20-yard line following the touchback and ran out the clock for a 50-41 victory.

Both teams had good offensive production but both had trouble on defense. Winslow enjoyed excellent play from Brown, Foster, Velez, Hollins and Villanueva. Wickenburg had excellent play by Wickham, Holden, Horcos and James.

The Winslow junior varsity defeated the Wickenburg junior varsity 40-8 at Wickenburg Sept. 10.

The Bulldogs take on the Coronado Dons at Scottsdale on Friday. Coronado lost their first game to Glendale 24-21 but defeated Cortez 34-0 in their second game and defeated Kingman 35-21.

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