Holbrook shuts down Piñon for region crown

HOLBROOK, Ariz. – First-year Holbrook Roadrunners coach Paul Agramont likes to run the ball.

The Roadrunners amassed 273 yards on 23 carries as Holbrook captured its second consecutive 2A Little Colorado Region title with a 42-0 shutout win over previously unbeaten Piñon last Friday night at Holbrook High School.

“Our run game is awesome,” said Agramont, whose team improved to 6-3 overall and 6-0 in region play.

“Last year, our head coach wanted an Air Raid offense and pass more. I’m sorry, we run,” he said. “We can clearly run the ball.”

Senior running back Darnell Nez led the team with 144 yards on seven carries and sophomore Matthias Montijo rushed for 83 yards and a touchdown.

“He’s a beast,” Agramont said of Nez. “He runs track, he wrestles, and he threw discus for track too. That kid is nonstop. He likes to keep busy, and he loves the weight room.”

The Holbrook coach was equally impressed with Montijo as he has amassed 1,097 yards for the season, which ranks third best in the state at the 2A level.

“He’s getting close to being No. 1,” Agramont said of his sophomore rusher.

And while he prefers to run the ball, the Holbrook team also got an impressive showing from sophomore quarterback Darren Justman who completed 5-of-10 passes for 216 yards and four TDs.

Agramont credited his offensive line for the 524 yards the Roadrunners collected.

“They really dialed that up,” he said. “Our line coach really knows how to get those guys working and our line has clicked. The majority of our line has been playing for three years now. Just that familiarity with each other they have come up with code words on what they need to do.”

Piñon second-year coach Steve Saban said his team’s 1-2 punch on the offensive end dwindled down to one player as junior running back Harrison Crosby went out with an ankle injury in the middle of the second quarter.

“It’s just one of those things,” Saban said.

With that, Holbrook targeted senior ball carrier Silas Kaye, the catalyst for Piñon’s offense.

“He’s not a secret,” Saban said of his pupil. “He’s our biggest threat so they keyed on him.”

Holbrook held Kaye to 27 yards of offense as he could not find any room to run.

“He was the No. 1 rusher in 2A football before this game and we wanted to shut him down,” Agramont said of Kaye, who’s rushed for 1,083 yards, fifth best in 2A.

“I’m pretty sure we held him under 50 yards tonight,” Agramont said. “I guarantee they haven’t had that happen to them all year. My defensive front, I have big bodies and I got some athletic players right there. Those guys are ready to rock and roll.

“That is the heart of my defense,” he added. “I have some pretty solid linebackers that know what to do, and they communicate very well. The heart of the defense is the D-line.”

After starting the season at 0-3 with losses to Page, Winslow and St. Johns, the Roadrunners have won six straight conference games. Agramont said those early season games got them prepared for the region races.

“It showed us the things we needed to work on, especially with tackling,” he said. “We made sure that we focused on tackling every day because in year’s past we watched these guys on film doing arm tackling.

“They’d go for the shoulders and slide off so that made us look bad,” Agramont continued. “That is one of our main focuses, making sure we’re one of the better tackling teams.”

Holbrook will close out the regular season playing at Tuba City on Friday. The Roadrunners will receive the region’s automatic bid to the playoffs despite sitting at No. 25 in this week’s Arizona Interscholastic Association’s statewide 2A polls.

“I don’t know how the AIA or MaxPreps do their rankings,” Agramont said. “They trust the computer to do it, but to me it’s baffling. What else am I supposed to do? We’re beating the teams that are in front of us. Some of these teams we’re crushing, so what else do we have to do to move up?”

Meanwhile, the 8-1 Piñon team is sitting No. 23 overall in the state rankings, dropping two spots from last week’s poll.

Despite having its streak broken, Piñon will finish the regular season with a winning record as the Eagles will host Hopi on Friday.

“I’m proud of these guys,” Saban said. “In one year, we’ve come from being last to competing for a region title. That’s like night and day, so I can’t be upset.

“I wished we could have competed a little bit better but, hey, I’m proud of these guys,” he added. “We have one more game and we’re going to keep working.”

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