Box Score The #3 Snow College Badgers overcame another halftime deficit to defeat the New Mexico Military Institute Broncos 58-38 in the semifinal game of the WSFL Playoffs.  The victory gives Snow home-field advantage as they take on Pima in the WSFL Championship game on Saturday, November 7^th.  Snow beat Pima 48-27 last week in the final game before the playoffs.
 
The Badgers' offensive line changed the game as Snow came out of the halftime break down 17-25 and scored 27 unanswered points and keep the game just out of reach for the Broncos.   In this battle between 2 dominant quarterbacks, formation adjustments and dominant play in the 3^rd quarter on the offensive line helped the Badgers pick up 689 total offensive yards with 437 in the 2^nd half.  The previous meeting between these two teams in the regular season came down to the final seconds of the game with special teams making big plays to secure the win for Snow.  This time around, the Badgers' offense kept the team's chances at a WSFL championship alive. 
 
Snow got the 1st quarter started with a 37 yard field goal and a 23 yard pass from QB Stefan Cantwell to WR Jonah Trinnaman to take the early 10-0 lead.  The Broncos responded with touchdown passes by QB Connor Cramer on each of their next 4 drives.   A QB run by Cantwell kept the Badgers within reach going into halftime behind by 8 at 17-25.
 
After an early fumble by Snow at midfield in the 3^rd quarter, New Mexico Military looked poised to extend their lead as they marched the ball down the field to the Snow 2 yard line.  The Badgers' defense held strong and forced a fumble that LB Kurtis Taufa recovered at the 3 yard line to keep the Broncos out of the endzone.  From there, the Badgers drove 97 yards on 5 plays to score on a 30 yard touchdown pass from Cantwell that connected with TE Dalton Fackrell to bring Snow within 1 point at 24-25.   
 
The Badgers scored on their next 3 drives as Cantwell connected with WR Alex Croyle on a 46 yard bomb into the endzone, followed by a 43 yard touchdown pass to Fackrell on their ensuing drive.  Snow employed a bit of trickery with a double pass from QB Riley Richmond that connected with Trinnaman, who then tossed it to a wide-open Dalton Fackrell for his 3^rd touchdown of the game and a 44-25 lead with 8:21 remaining in the game.
 
The Broncos responded with a quick touchdown on a 58 yard pass, but failed to recover the onside kick and Snow burned time off the clock and added to the lead with an 8 yard run by RB Reupena-James Moors.   Cramer got his team back in the endzone one final time, but when the Broncos could not recover the onside kick, RB Stephen Shepard took the next play from scrimmage on a 41 yard run to score the final touchdown of the game and secure a Snow victory at 58-38.
 
Cantwell was 25 of 35 in the air for 346 yards and 4 touchdowns with 1 interception.  Trinnaman had 98 yards receiving with 1 touchdown while Croyle had 144 yards receiving with a touchdown.  Fackrell picked up 3 touchdowns with 114 yards receiving.  Snow split the workload in the running game as Shepard rushed for 104 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown while both Moors and Cantwell had nearly identical numbers, rushing for 89 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown apiece.
 
Defensively, Taufa recovered a key fumble and Braxton Winterton had an interception.  Paisa Savea, John Penisini and Teau Satuala each picked up a sack against a very good Broncos' QB, Connor Cramer, who had an outstanding day going 25 of 49 for 468 yards in the air with 1 interception and 6 touchdowns.
 
Snow will have home-field advantage as they play for the WSFL Championship against Pima Community College on Saturday, November 7^th at noon in Ephraim.