A rushing battle between Williams Field's Braden Bushman and Queen Creek's Weston Barlow didn't materialze Friday night in the teams Division III section skirmish at Queen Creek.

Well, it did for Bushman. Bushman followed his huge offensive line to gains of mostly five yards or more all night and Williams Field used its rushing advantage to take a 17-10 victory over Queen Creek.

Bushman, a 5-foot-9 senior, hit holes quickly and knived his way to 219 yards on 41 carries (unofficially) and two 1-yard touchdown runs. Bushman had a handful of 10 or 11 yard runs, but  was content to plow his way to five-and six-yard attempts throughout. His biggest gain came on he final play from scrimmage (16 yards) as Williams Field ran out the clock. Williams Field's time of possession edge was 30 minutes to 18.

"This was tough guy's game," Williams Field coach Steve Campbell said. "A tough guy's game by our offensive line, our running backs and by our defense. It was a slugfest."

Bushman's second TD with 8:17 to play put Queen Creek behind by two touchdowns. The Bulldogs relied on four straight completions to drive to Williams Field's 21, but the march ended there. Three plays later, however, Queen Creek's Jordan Ackert grabbed a deflected pass setting up the Bulldogs at the WF 26. This time Queen Creek completed the series with Barlow scoring on a 6-yard run with 3:17 to play.

Queen Creek (6-2) couldn't stop Williams Field from getting a first down as it gave up two third-down conversions and used all three of its time outs. Williams field ran out the final 1:45. Barlow finished with 82 yards rushing on 15 attempts. Queen Creek quarterback Bryce Dobbs completed 13 of 19 passes for 172 yards and was sacked four times.

Williams Field officially is 3-1 in power-rankiing games after Friday's triumph and gets a chance to appeal four forfeits to the Arizona Interscholastic Association's executive board on Monday. The Black Hawks were coming off a thrashing at the hands of D-III kingpin Saguaro last week.

Unsure of its fate with its appeal, Williams Field knew that it needed wins down the stretch if it entertained playoff aspirations, particularly if its appeal goes awry. Williams Field was No. 14 this week in the D-III power rankings.

The way Williams Field's offense operated Friday, it took few chances. Quarterback Weston Murphy attempted only five passes. Everything else was Bushman and occasionally Fabian Ortiz in cranking.out 274 yards rushing. The Black Hawks ran off almost seven minutes of clock on the game's opening drive, ending with a 35-yard field goal by Blake Ruiz. Queen Creek's only possession of the first quarter was a three-and-out.

Williams Field missed a 46-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but rebounded quickly to get its first touchdown. Queen Creek punter Zach Glaess bobbled snap inside his own 10 and was taken down at the QC 7. Three plays later Bushman scored from the 1 for a 10-0 lead.That score stood at intermission.

Queen Creek scored for the first time with 3:25 left in the third period, getting a 28-yard field goal by Glaess to pull within 10-3. But as Willams Field had done to begin the contest it pieced together an 18-play, 75-yard drive for a 17-3 advantage. The Black Hawks sliced another seven minutes of play in doing so.

 

 

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