Bulldogs run past Rams 38-13

The Maricopa High football team ran into a buzzsaw Friday night in the form of the Winslow High Bulldogs.

Winslow, rushing for more than 300 yards on the night, advanced in the state playoffs with a 38-13 victory over Maricopa. Winslow will meet Show Low in the next round on Friday. For Maricopa, the season ends at 6-5.

Winslow (8-3), which features 26 seniors in its program, jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. The Bulldogs scored 21 points off of Maricopa turnovers. “If we don’t turn the ball over, we’re looking at a 17-13 game,” Maricopa High head coach Tyler Brandt said.

Defensive challenges also impacted the Rams, as defensive end Tony Jones and linebacker Matt Fierros both missed most of the game due to injuries. “We needed to shut down their running game and we didn’t do that,” Brandt noted. Maricopa did manage to recover four turnovers on the evening.

Highlights for the Rams on this night included a Will Clemans to Cody Seymore TD pass, but it was not nearly enough to stem the tide of the Bulldogs.

Despite the loss, Brandt couldn’t say enough about his kids and their efforts this season.

“We had some kids who showed some incredible leadership to our underclassmen,” Brandt said. “It is sad to see our seniors leave, but they’ve provided vision to our underclassmen for the off-season.”

While Clemans was picked off several times in the game, Brandt noted the play of his senior QB this season. “Will did such an incredible job of running a complicated offense this season,” Brandt added.

File photo