Bulldogs race past Scouts in 3A North opener

FORT DEFIANCE – A big third quarter surge by Winslow High put the game of reach for the hometown Fighting Scouts.

After leading 14-0 at the break, Winslow scored four touchdowns to score a 42-0 win in 3A North play over Window Rock last Friday night.

“Window Rock did some crazy stuff with their trick plays, and their double passes,” Winslow coach Brandon Guzman said. “It gives you a lot of headaches, and a lot of sleepless nights because you’re trying to figure out what they’re gonna do.

“I think once they get it down, they’re gonna have some success and it’ll give teams trouble,” he added. “They did a good job, and it took us a while because it was 6-0 in the first quarter then 14-0 at halftime.”

Nonetheless, the Scouts were unable to keep pace with Winslow in that third stanza. The Bulldogs took advantage of some short field possessions to jump ahead with the longest TD drive going for 29 yards in that second half.

“I think at the end of the day we were bigger, faster and stronger,” the Winslow coach said. “We wore them down a little bit. We try to take our pride with what we have up front. We want to be physical and get after it.”

Winslow racked up 292 yards of offense, including 223 yards on the ground behind six ball carriers.

Senior Ty DeSpain did the most damage by covering 74 yards on nine carries and three TDs. Sophomore Bryce Williams added 66 yards on 11 carries and one TD.

DeSpain was also credited for a 16-yard scoring strike to junior Michael Romero-Cortez. DeSpain filled in for starting quarterback Gino Quinones who suffered a slight “stinger” in the opening half.

Before leaving the game, Quinones completed 5 of 10 passes for 50 yards and a TD.

“He’s only a sophomore,” Guzman said of Quinones. “I have high hopes for him, and I think he’s gonna be really good this year. He got a little banged up in his first start, but we should have him back.”

The Winslow coach also had high praises for his running backs.

“Bryce Williams ran really hard, and he’s tough,” he said. “I was really proud of Ty DeSpain. He’s a senior and he had to play quarterback and he got a lot of reps.”

While they put up big numbers with its running game, Guzman said his receiving corps can cause problems. The Bulldogs have added Williams High transfer JoJo Captain to the lineup, but he did not get any touches.

“JoJo is a stud, and he’s my big receiver,” the Winslow coach said. “With JoJo’s size he’s gonna command double-teams when we give him the ball more. He did a great job blocking, but my receivers don’t like to hear that.

“They would rather catch the ball, but I was really proud with the way he performed today,” he said.

Defensively, the Bulldogs created havoc for Window Rock as they had two promising drives go by the wayside.

In the Scout’s opening possession, Window Rock went 50-plus yards thanks to its trick plays. The Scouts reached Winslow’s 10-yard line with senior Jayden Bia dialing up a pair of halfback pass plays.

On the very next play, though, Winslow’s Michael Romero-Cortez picked off a pass from Bia in the end zone.

“I think he made a great play on that,” Guzman said of his pupil. “We just struggled with communication, but once we started talking and communicating, we started to play right.”

Late in the first half, the Scouts had another drive stall at Winslow’s 14-yard line. The home team went 56 yards with the biggest gain coming on a 44-yard toss from freshman quarterback Kaden White to one of his receivers.

Window Rock will host Tuba City in a freedom game Friday night while Winslow travels to Payson for its next game.

“They’re a 3A East team, and I want to play a 3A East all the time,” Guzman said.

The following week, Winslow will travel to Holbrook on Sept. 2 as the Bulldogs are looking to avenge last season’s 32-6 loss to the Roadrunners. The kickoff for that Saturday game is slated for 6 p.m. MST.

“Holbrook broke our streak,” Guzman said. “We had 20 some wins in a row on them, and they beat me last year, so that one is a big one for us.”

On Sept. 9, Winslow will play Flagstaff at the NAU Walkup Skydome on Sept. 8 before hosting its next 3A North game playing Ganado at Coconino High School.

“Our track (renovation) is being delayed, so we won’t have a home game this year,” Guzman said. “But I feel like we do because we go to Holbrook, a 30-minute drive. We play in the Skydome and we have three games at Coconino High School.

“We’re going to play our home games there and Flag is a good trip for mom and dad and everybody,” he said.

Winslow will play Crismon High, one of Queen Creek’s newer schools on Sept. 22 before they go on its bye week.

“That’s gonna be big for us, but they shouldn’t be in 3A,” Guzman said of Crismon. “They have juniors and lower, but they have 1500 kids, and they shouldn’t be in 3A. Rumor is they have a lot of transfers starting Week 6 when we play them. They’re gonna sit out the first five weeks, so I don’t believe they deserve to be in 3A.”

Following its bye, the Bulldogs will close out the regular season with four more games at Chinle Oct. 5, hosting Kingman Oct. 12, at Page Oct. 20 and hosting Monument Valley Oct. 27.

“We have the two powerhouses on the 3A North in the back end of our schedule,” Guzman said of Page and MV. “We got to stay healthy and do what we can do. Hopefully we’ll have a chance against those schools late in the season.”

---