Devils steal win from Scouts

FORT DEFIANCE

The Page Sand Devils had some trouble extending their 3A North Region winning streak to 15 games last Friday night.

The Sand Devils made enough plays to pull out an exciting 34-28 win over Window Rock.

Incidentally, the last time Page lost to a 3A North opponent was during the 2016 season when it dropped a 27-20 decision to Monument Valley.

The Scouts were on the cusp of ending that streak but they were denied as they fumbled the ball at Page’s 2-yard line in a play that would have tied things up.

With 6:33 left in the fourth, Window Rock was looking to score but fumbled the ball as Page sophomore Hunter Richardson recovered it.

“We had a lot of athletes make a lot of great plays tonight,” said first-year Page coach Bubba Billie, whose team improved to 2-5 overall and 2-0 in region play. “The fumble they had when they were ready to score was huge. We needed to get that stop.

“Like I told the boys this is a tough place to play,” he said. “I warned them all week about how loud the crowd was going to be. We had it rough in the first half but we were able to respond.”

After conceding a late touchdown to end the first half while trailing 28-20 at the break, Page turned a couple of breaks into scores in the third to go up 34-28.

The first break came at the 6:51 mark when Page senior Gabe Gomez intercepted the ball in a time-consuming drive by Window Rock.

The Scouts used their running game to reach the Sand Devils’ 19-yard line but that threat ended when Window Rock starting quarterback Joey Begay had his pass, which was intended for senior Adrian Destea, picked off by Gomez.

With some blazing speed, Gomez went 82 yards unscathed and after the successful two-point conversion the game was knotted at 28-all.

“Coach told us we needed a stop and I knew we were going to get the ball right away,” Gomez said. “When I saw the ball coming to me my eyes lit up and I knew I was gone. I knew they couldn’t catch me.”

In their next drive, the Scouts ran the ball three times for 14 yards, which would have given them a first down at Page’s 46-yard line.

But a costly unsportsmanlike penalty pushed back 15 yards and two plays later they gave the ball back after a failed fourth down conversion.

With good field position, the Sand Devils marched 46 yards and got the go-ahead score from Gomez, who ran in the final 13 yards on this six-play drive.

Billie said the pick-six made by Gomez turned things around for his club.

“Gabe is one of our vocal leaders and that pick was a big swing of emotions,” he said. “I challenged our boys at halftime and they responded by tackling, blocking and they did what we do as far as Page football goes.”

The Sand Devil coach said the biggest adjustment they had to make was moving a few players around. They moved their right guard to tackle to contend with Window Rock defensive lineman Caleb Dickson.

“That kid’s a stud,” Billie said of Dickson. “We weren’t able to establish our run in the first half but when we made the adjustments it opened up some holes.”

And while Gomez was one of the sole beneficiaries with 207 all-purpose yards, Billie said the win was a team effort.

“Everyone was able to step up in that second half and they really took care of business,” he said. “We had the kids on the sidelines all hyped up and we had our receivers catching the ball and running good routes.”

Window Rock, which dropped two region games by 17 points, had its share of big plays but was snowed under with some costly penalties and the five turnovers they had in the second half.

Window Rock coach Wilbur Begay Jr. said they didn’t take advantage of their chances in the red zone. The Scouts had two such opportunities in the second half but they gave the ball back with an interception and a fumble.

“We were knocking on the doorstep twice,” he said. “We had those costly turnovers and as a coach those missed opportunities are real disappointing.

“We’re going to try and learn from it but we go through those situations at practice,” he added. “I don’t know what else to do because we practice exactly what we do.”

Begay said they had some missed opportunities that affected the outcome in their 23-12 loss to Monument Valley two weeks ago.

“I feel like we were the better team the past few games,” he said. “We should have won both of those games, especially this one. I feel like we should have won this game by at least two touchdowns.”

The few bright spots for the Scouts included the effort turned in by senior running back Naat’aah Chief, who scampered for 189 yards and one TD.

Joey Begay, meanwhile, completed eight passes, including two TD passes to Destea. In the opening quarter, Destea caught a 20-yard TD pass and the second he grabbed a spectacular 16-yard pass in the end zone.

Both teams will be in action on Friday with Window Rock looking to improve its 3-4 record with a home contest with Chinle.

Page, meanwhile, will entertain Ganado.

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