As we predicted, Terrell Hayward proved the difference. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

Cienega held on to defeat Salpointe 30-20 Thursday night in a game billed as the biggest from Southern Arizona this year only to be slightly downgraded a couple of hours before kickoff due to injuries to a couple of the major players.

The “downgrade” was a bit premature.

Salpointe junior standout Mario Padilla suffered a knee injury against Tucson in week three and, as we first reported, sophomore running back Bijan Robinson tweaked an ankle in the Lancer’s victory over Pueblo last week and was not in uniform against Cienega.  Padilla rushed for 1,427 yards and 18 touchdowns last year and Robinson was gaining 173 yards and two TDs a game heading into Thursday night. How could the Lancers ever compete against a team like Cienega without them on the field?

Salpointe head coach Dennis Bene is the answer to that question.

Knowing a game against the fourth-ranked team in the 5A Conference would have very little bearing on his team’s playoff position in the 4A ranks, Bene felt it was wise to hold Padilla and Robinson out so they could heal and prepare for the gauntlet called the 4A Kino Region, a region that includes Catalina Foothills, Canyon del Oro and Walden Grove.

Salpointe (5-1) came in ranked No. 1 in the 4A Conference and a team doesn’t usually get that high unless there is a backup plan and Bene devised one by moving senior Gabe Madril to the backfield to help make up for the loss of Robinson. Madril responded by gaining 90 yards on 10 carries with one of those resulting in an 8-yard scoring run to keep the Lancers close in the third quarter.

How good of a coaching move was that? Those were the first and only carries listed for Madril in his three years on varsity.

Defense wins games and Cienega (6-0) came in scoring over 50 points a game but the Lancers were only giving up four. Something had to give and it was another area both Bene and Cienega head coach Patrick Nugent were surely aware of.

The Lancer defense kept coming Thursday night and University of Arizona commit Jamarye Joiner had some difficulty moving the ball with “only” 94 yards passing and 47 yards rushing (with six sacks thrown in) but, just like Bene and Salpointe, a team with Nugent at the helm and a talent like Joiner on the field, makes game-time adjustments and takes advantage of mistakes.

It also helps to have players such as junior standout Terrell Hayward on the field with Joiner. The mistakes? Besides a few costly penalties, the Bobcats took advantage of three miscues in the Lancer punting game. 

Salpointe took a 3-0 lead on a 33-yard field goal from Michael Sanchez with 7:07 left in the first quarter but Joiner and Hayward combined for 35 yards on the next drive, with the help of two costly penalties, to put Cienega up 7-3.

Joiner’s scoring rush from less than a yard out came with 5:01 left in the first and it looked like the Bobcats were going to pull away after Sergio Torres blocked a Lancer punt two minutes later but a 13-play drive by the Bobcats was stalled at the 18 and PJ Coco cashed in on a 35-yard FG to put the Bobcats up 10-3 with the game only seconds into the second quarter. It wasn’t supposed to be this close with Padilla and Robinson on the sidelines.

“You can’t sleep on a team like Salpointe,” Hayward said. “That’s a good team over there.”

Thomas Webb Jr. put Cienega up 17-3 on a 1-yard run with 7:51 left in the half but another field goal from Sanchez cut the lead down to 17-6 at the half. No one was sleeping, especially after Madril punched one in from 8-yards out on the opening drive of the second half to cut the lead down to 17-13.

The Lancers had momentum and the defense forced the Bobcats to punt less than two minutes later after collecting two sacks but Jordan Aldor fell on a muffed punt to put the Bobcats back in business at the Lancer 29-yard line.

The Bobcats took the ball down to the seven but a fumble recovery from Chris Aguirre kept the Lancers in striking distance. Salpointe moved the ball to midfield after the fumble but the Bobcat defense held and the Lancers were forced to punt.

Hayward ran the punt back 70 yards to give Cienega a 24-13 lead with the game heading towards the fourth quarter.

The Bobcats took advantage of a blocked punt, muffed punt and a punt return for a TD to hold the Lancers back and Zach Mattas came up with an interception to set up a perfectly-timed play devised by Nugent and carried out by Joiner and Hayward to put the game away.

Knowing the Lancer defense was relentless all night, Joiner flipped the ball to Hayward and Hayward pulled up and hit a wide-open Jerry White down the field for a 34-yard TD to put Cienega up 30-13 (kick failed).

Arturo Alcaraz scored on a 19-yard run late in the game to cut the lead back down to 30-20 but time ran out on the Lancers. Alcaraz had 34 yards rushing to go along with the 90 from Madril and Rodrigo Nieto added 48 but it wasn’t enough to pull off the win. Still, Bene was rightfully pleased with what he saw.

“Your effort was outstanding,” Bene said to his team after the game. “Keep your chin up and let’s get back to work.”

Salpointe will face No. 9 Walden Grove (4-1) next week but the Lancers will have the extra advantage of being able to scout the Red Wolves Friday night. Walden Grove will host Nogales (2-3).

“I’m looking forward to our progress after this game,” Padilla said. “Our teammates responded without us in the lineup and they played hard. I think we are going to have a fine year.”

Cienega remains the dominant team from Southern Arizona, even with the scare. An off night still produced a victory as the team enters region play at Sahuaro (3-3) next Friday.

“No slacking,” Hayward added. “We need to get better every day. Lift weights and work hard. The other teams will be hungry.”

Hayward had 60 yards receiving, 17 rushing and 34 yards passing to go along with his punt return for a TD. He was the difference that we predicted and Joiner was the rock and still collected over 140 yards of offense against one of the top defenses in the state.

The Bobcats haven’t lost a regular season game since Oct. 9, 2015.  That 19-game win streak includes three victories over the Lancers but none of those games made a difference come playoff time.

OFFICIATING CREW

Jerry Gastellum, Ovctavio Sotelo, Richard Gastellum, Frank Amparano and Christopher Gastellum.