Eastern Arizona ground game thwarts football, 31-21

  THATCHER, AZ - The sixth-ranked ground game of Eastern Arizona overwhelmed the Mesa defense as the Gila Monsters defeated MCC, 31-21, in a WSFL football game Saturday night.

  Averaging over 280 yards per game, and with numerous threats on the ground, EAC broke open a 14-14 tie at halftime with an 88-yard TD march completely on the ground and threw just one pass in the entire second half.

  The Monsters used an MCC mistake to score first. A bad snap was recovered by EAC on the Mesa 21 yard line and two plays later Tim Cook ran in from the three for the initial score.

  The T-Birds bounced right back, going 85 yards on 15 plays with Austin Apodaca (So., Longmont, Colo/Silver Creek H.S.) throwing eight yards to Marquise Coleman (So., Denver, Colo/Eagle Crest H.S.) for the equalizer.

  On its next possession Mesa surged in front, 14-7, this time going 70 yards on nine plays with Apodaca hitting Tyler Eggers (So., Chandler, AZ/Hamilton H.S.) from the nine.

  EAC bounced right back on a four-yard TD run by quarterback Ryheem Dixon to send the game into the break tied.

  Cook then completed the 88-yard drive to start the second half with a 21-yard TD run, eventually sending the game into the fourth quarter with the Gila Monsters on top, 21-14.

  Nathan Pierpoint booted a 23-yard field goal  on the third play of the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 24-14, and Eastern then capitalized on another MCC mistake to all but put the game out of reach.

  Cameron Walton scooped up a T-Bird fumble at the MCC 34 and took it to the end zone to run the score to 31-14 with 9:36 to play.

  MCC added one more score when Apodaca threw a six-yard TD to Garrette Craig, pictured right, (So., Phoenix, AZ/Mountain Pointe H. S.) with 33 seconds left.

  Apodaca unofficially finished 26 for 40 for 208 yards with three TDs and one interception. Craig caught six for 37 yards, while Eggers grabbed five for 35 and Carlton Williams (So., Avondale, AZ/Warren Cntral H.S.) four worth 17.

  Williams gained 102 yards on the ground on 18 tries.

  Mesa is now 2-3 and will host New Mexico Military next Saturday at John D. Riggs Stadium at 7:00 p.m. EAC is now 3-2.

  Other WSFL scores:

  Arizona Western 42, Phoenix 15

Scottsdale 63, New Mexico Military 16

Snow 21, Glendale 19