FOOTBALL: Pusch Ridge takes out frustrations on Bisbee in 50-6 win
September 4, 2015 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365
Oro Valley Pusch Ridge was looking for revenge after losing to Benson last week but, in football, that means the next team on the schedule is usually in trouble and Bisbee found plenty of it on Friday night after losing big, 50-6.
Benson (2-0) and Bisbee (1-1) are ranked in the top six in Division V according to various media polls and Pusch Ridge (1-1) had the misfortune of playing both to start their season off. Benson defeated Pusch Ridge 28-14 last week in a game that the Lions wish they had back. But you can only move forward and that's what the Lions did.
"We knew we were going to be in a fight because both those teams are good," explained Pusch Ridge running back James Raica. "We made a lot of mistakes last week but we tightened everything up for Bisbee."
Raica finished with 143 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He was part of a rushing explosion that produced 413 yards and seven touchdowns. Edwin Lovett added 97, including a 60-yard TD dash. Dakota Haynes finished with 60 and a score. Mitch Maas had 59 and two touchdowns. Tamerat Mcleod added 51 and a touchdown.
To make matters worse, the Lions converted on all six fourth downs they faced with two of them going for scores.
"We run hard," Raica added. "Our coach tells us we have two bulls in the backfield. We would absolutely love to have that first game back."
The Pusch Ridge defense was equally up to the task. At one point in the third quarter Bisbee had negative yardage. A late scoring drive and touchdown pass from Danny Barrow to Spencer Schuller cut the lead down to 43-6 but the Puma offense could only come up with 94 yards on 31 plays.
Pusch Ridge standout tight end Ben Walker was only called upon on a couple of plays due to the success on the ground and also due to a slight cold but he also looked back at what might have been.
"I'm feeling better with the win," Walker said. "We were flat last week and the game came after a bad week of practice. We saw what needed to be fixed and we fixed it.
Pusch Ridge will travel to San Tan Valley Combs (1-1) next week while Bisbee will have a bye week.