Box Score EPHRAIM — The long bus ride home from Glendale seemed a bit shorter for the Snow College Badgers as they came back from a 10-point first quarter deficit to hold on for a 21-19 win over Glendale. The Gauchos scored nine points in the fourth quarter, but could not convert on a two-point try following their last score with 4:33 remaining which could have sent the game into overtime. The win keeps Snow in a second place tie with Scottsdale, a half-game behind Arizona Western which leads the Western States Football League.
Glendale scored 10 points in the first period on a 29-yard Patrick Murray field goal and a 16-yard touchdown pass from Dylan Touvell to Rod Taylor with 17 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Snow got things going in the second period as
Eric Takenaka scored from three yards out early in the quarter, and
Darrell Milburn ran in from five yards with just under three minutes to go before halftime. Milburn's score came after the Badgers recovered a Gaucho fumble at the Glendale five-yard line. Connor McRae tacked on extra points both times to put the Badgers up 14-10 at the break.
The Badgers stretched the lead to 21-10 late in the third period when
Alex Kuresa hit his favorite big play target, Arlonzo Simpson, on a 38-yard touchdown toss. Simpson has previously scored on strikes from Kuresa from 50, 67 and 17 yards.
Down by 11, momentum swung back to the Gauchos in the fourth quarter as Murray connected on a 36-yard field goal with 11 minutes remaining in the game to pull Glendale within eight points at 21-13. After forcing a punt, Glendale drove 56 yards to score again when Touvell hit Corey Brown from 11 yards out to pull to within two points. But the Badger defense stuffed a Gaucho run on the two-point attempt, and the Badger offense was able to run out the clock to preserve the win.
Kuresa finished the game with 189 yards through the air on 12 of 20 passing.
Dalton Fackrell led Badger receivers with three receptions for 49 yards, and Milburn led all runners with 93 yards on 13 carries. Touvell was 21 of 37 passing for Glendale for 241 yards, while Roland Genesy led the Gaucho ground game with 86 yards on 19 carries.
Snow (now 3-1) hosts Phoenix College (0-4) on Saturday at noon in the Badgers' homecoming game. Glendale (3-2) has a week off before travelling to Yuma to take on Arizona Western (4-1).
