Walden Grove is now past the middle of it's third season at the varsity level and this just might be the year head coach Chris Sargent leads his Red Wolves (4-2) to post-season play.

The high school was needed due to the incredible growth of the Sahuarita area and that typically means a few years of struggling to build a sports program under the shadow of an established school but, since we first caught up with Walden Grove in the summer of 2012 at the Pima Passing League, it became clear that this was going to be a successful program rather quickly.

The team has been flirting with a playoff bid for two years now but they have always come up one game short.  A close loss to Fountain Hills their first season was followed by another heartbreaker against Empire last year.  Unless you win a section title, a 5-5 record will not get you into November.

This year's 24-23 loss to Catalina Foothills came on heels of a big loss to Sahuarita. The loss to the Falcons could have served as this year's detour away from the Division IV playoffs but the Red Wolves turned their season around by winning four games in a row including a 42-28 win over Division V power Benson (4-2) at home Friday night.

With a favorable yet competitive schedule ahead of them, the Red Wolves control their own destiny.

Benson, on the other hand, is an established program with two championship game appearances in it's long history and back-to-back playoff spots over the last two seasons and, even though they appear to be earning another bid this year, they made things difficult for themselves by spotting Walden Grove 21 points.

Christian Moody took the opening kickoff 82 yards to give Walden Grove a 7-0 lead and Benson responded by driving down the field to the 21 but a 7-yard sack by Robert Perez was followed by an 8-yard sack by Izzy Calvillo on 4th down.

Walden Grove went up 14-0 two minutes later on a 45-yard run by Calvillo. Then, Benson fumbled the ball away on their first play which led to a 2-yard scoring run from junior quarterback Carlos Guerrero to put the Red Wolves up 21-0 with 3:28 left in the first quarter.

Since transferring from Sunnyside prior to his junior season, Calvillo has been known as a dominating defender who averaged over 18 tackles a game. Now, he can add fullback to his résumé.

"I believe I play defense really well," explained Calvillo. "I had some crazy number of tackles last year but coach Sargent told me he needed me on the other side of the ball this year. At first I was reluctant but I will do anything to help benefit the team."

Calvillo finished the night with 105 yards rushing and 24 yards receiving, scoring three touchdowns while only touching the ball 13 times. Still, he prefers defense.

"I see defense as a job and offense is where I go to have fun," Calvillo added. "And I like my job."

Benson sacked Guerrero twice with Brandon Laird pulling him down for a 9-yard loss on fourth down to get the ball back in the opening moments of the second quarter. The short field led to a 40-yard run from Laird to put Benson on the scoreboard 21-7.

A short kick set Walden Grove up at midfield and Louis Joseph ripped off a 26-run, followed by an 17-yard gain from Calvillo and then an 8-yard punishing run by Calvillo to go back up 28-7.

Benson put together a 65-yard drive that was capped off by a 14-yard scoring run from Laird with 1:16 left in the half. Walden Grove gave up the ball on a fumble but a holding call helped prevent Benson from cashing in on the turnover and the score was 28-14 at the half.

The Benson coaching staff praised their team's ability to fight back in the second half and for good reason.  What looked like a sure running clock-mercy rule outcome after the first period turned into a video game in the second half.

Nick Hernandez scored on a 17-yard run to cut the lead down to 28-21 but Guerrero turned around and hit Calvillo on a 24-yard pass to go back up 35-21.

Perez was injured during Benson's next drive and the game was delayed for about 20 minutes to allow paramedics the opportunity to transport him on a backboard to the hospital for more intensive care. There is no word on his status.

After the delay, Laird scored again from 1-yard out to make the score 35-28. Benson forced Walden Grove into a punting situation and the Red Wolves attempted a fake on the play but a wide-open pass was dropped, giving Benson the ball at the 49.

Laird finished with 154 yards rushing with three touchdowns and his 24-yard dash combined with a face mask penalty gave Benson the ball at Walden Grove's 20-yard line. The final turning point of the game came on the next play when Calvin Brown recovered a fumble to end Benson's chance of scoring.

Walden Grove followed with a back-breaking 82-yard drive that took up eight minutes and ended with a 14-yard scoring run from Joseph to give Walden Grove a 42-28 lead.

Deven Evans picked off Benson a few minutes later and that was the game.

Joseph finished with a game-high 157 yards rushing to go along with Calvillo's 105. Hernandez had 92 yards rushing for Benson and Keegan Graff added 70.

 

Benson will travel to Morenci (3-3) next week and Walden Grove will visit Santa Rita (4-2).

 

 

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