Mesa football upsets #12 Pima, 41-27
Mesa, AZ- In what seemed like a doomed season after their loss against Glendale two weeks ago, Mesa has turned their season around with an impressive victory over #12 national rank Pima Community College, 41-27.
Team Effort
The T-Birds had contributions from both the offense and defense tonight in their upset of #12 Pima. Week 1 at Snow showed Mesa just trying to get their feet under them. In week 2, it was the defense that shined but the offense that stumbled in the loss to Glendale. In week 3, the roles reversed as the offense went off for 55 points. The defense had difficulty stopping Phoenix in the first half but only allowed 7 points in the second half and overtime. This week though, the offense and defense came together, showing how tough they could be heading into the second half of the regular season.
Offense
Mesa scored the first three touchdowns, all coming in the first quarter. Rathen Ricedorff(Fr., Showlow, AZ, Showlow H.S.) rushed for two touchdowns, both coming from the one yard line. The other touchdown was a 70 yard Ricedorff pass to Joshua Aganon(So., Scottsdale, AZ, Chaparral H.S.). Ricedorff lured the Aztec linebackers in on a play fake to Kenneth Steele(Fr., Goodyear, AZ, Tolleson H.S.) then quickly hit Aganon running up the right seem, with Aganon sprinting 60 yards past the Aztec secondary for the touchdown.
Ricedorff connected with Devin Reed(Fr., Chandler AZ, Basha H.S.) for the first of two touchdown passes Reed caught on the night in the second quarter to push Mesa's lead to 27-3.
Ricedorff accounted for five total touchdowns on the night, three through the air, two on the ground. He passed for 249 yards on 16-30 passing. Kenneth Steele was the backfield work horse, rushing for 75 yards on 24 carries.
Defense
Mesa defense is proving to be a force to be reckoned with. The T-Birds forced four turnovers, the biggest one coming by way of Kamon Clayton(So., Laveen, AZ, Cesar Chavez H.S.) who stepped in front of a Pima out pattern and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown. That's the second INT return of the season for Clayton, the first coming against Glendale in week 2 for a 50 yard return.
Claytons interception return set the tone for Mesa in the second half, as it pushed the T-Bird lead to 14 points, 35-21.
The defensive line for Mesa continually put pressure on the Pima quarterbacks. The T-Birds recorded five sacks, forcing the Aztecs quarterbacks out the pocket, leading to hurried passes and turnovers. Rodney Jones Jr(So., Antioch, TN, Antioch H.S.) finished with three sacks for -18 yards and seven tackles. Near the end of the third quarter a key play forced Pima to switch quarterbacks when starter Antonio Hinojosa was injured. On the play, a scrambling Hinojosa tried to cut up field but lost his footing just as Mesa's Marcus Brantley (So., Mesa, AZ/Red Mountain H.S.) came in for the hit. A flag was thrown on the play, but then picked up when referrees determined that Hinojosa had, indeed, slipped changing the angle of the hit. Video replay clearly shows what happened. Hinojosa was treated on the field for nearly 30 minutes before being transported to a nearby hospital. Kian Homme then came in for Pima and threw for only 48 yards on 5-17 passing. Brantley finished with eight tackles and had an interception in the fourth quarter to seal the Mesa victory with one minute remaining.
Special Teams
Austin Carver(So., Gilbert, AZ, Gilbert H.S.) connected on five of six extra points tonight, which makes him 18-19 on the season, a 95 P-A-T percentage. Week three WSFL Special Teams Player of the Week Aeron Carr(So., Mesa, AZ, Red Mountain H.S.) had six kickoff returns for 115 yards, his longest going for 24 yards.
Next week
Mesa will play host to the Gila Monsters of Eastern Arizona on Homecoming Night next week. Eastern lost to Arizona Western 24-21 this week but they are 2-1 on the season. Mesa right now is the sleeper in Western States Football League. With Ricedorff running the show at quarterback and Mesa's defense continually getting better, the last four games of the season should be exciting to watch, especially with matchups with Arizona Western, after Mesa has their bye week, down in Yuma and finishing off the season against Scottsdale at home. The focus though is beating Eastern next week. If the T-Birds can build off this impressive win over #12 Pima, they will be difficult to stop the rest of the season.
