No. 8 Walden Grove beat No. 28 Pueblo 28-20 Friday night to take control of the 4A Gila Region. At 6-2 overall and 3-0 in region play, the Red Wolves are now one game away from clinching a region title and the playoff berth that comes with it. The Warriors dropped to 3-5 overall and 2-1 in region play and have to hope the Red Wolves come up short twice down the home stretch to have a shot at the playoffs.

The victory came on the heels of No. 40 Amphitheater losing to No. 20 Douglas 38-21 to drop the Panthers to 3-5 overall and 2-1 in the Gila Region. Walden Grove can clinch with a win at Amphitheater next Friday night.

The Lopez twins came up big again for the Red Wolves again with Alex Lopez finishing with 241 yards passing and four touchdowns with one of them being a 75-yarder to Jordan Lopez. Jordan Lopez finished with 103 yards receiving.

Walden Grove took a 6-0 lead with 10:51 left in the second quarter on that 75-yard pass with a failed 2-point conversion attempt. The Warriors took a n 8-0 lead five minutes later on a 1-yard plunge from Marcelino Vega and a 2-point conversion from Julian Lopez.

Vega finished with 90 yards passing and 41 yards rushing but it was an 82-yard interception return from Ruben Rivera that kept the Warriors in the hunt, especially after the Red Wolves took a 12-8 lead on a 7-yard pass from Lopez to Stephen Brower and a 20-8 lead on a 10-yard pass from Lopez to Bradley Capen.

The Red Wolves were marching down the field in an attempt to put the game away but Rivera’s return put the Warriors back in business, down 20-14 with 5:03 left in the third.

Lopez came right back, however, and hit Hector Najar from 20 yards out to put Walden Grove up 28-14 after he ran in the 2-point try with 2:48 left in the quarter. Vega found Rivera from 20 yards out to cut the lead down to 28-20 with 6:41 left in the game and the Warriors had one final shot with a few minutes left but Walden Grove held on for the win.

Alex Lopez added 72 yards rushing while Brower added 52 and Capen finished with 42. Najar collected 89 yards receiving. Rivera led Pueblo with 48 yards receiving, 40 yards rushing and the 82-yard interception return. Joshua Garcia put in 42 yards rushing for the Warriors.

Left for dead after a 1-4 start, Pueblo head coach Brandon Sanders put in one of the most impressive coaching jobs of his career with the Warriors to get back into playoff contention. Likewise, second-year coach Corey Noble is now 13-6 in his career with a shot at a region title. Another impressive coaching job that cannot go unnoticed.

Let’s take a look at some other major results from Southern Arizona:

 

No. 16 Tucson lost to No. 22 O’Connor, 37-0 in what might be a season-changing loss for the Badgers, especially with a visit to No. 1 Chandler coming up next Friday night.

No. 7 Cienega beat No. 12 Marana 44-28 to take complete control of the 5A Southern Region. Region titles have no bearing on playoff chances at the 6A and 5A level but the Bobcats are playing for a high finish in hopes of hosting a playoff game. The Tigers will be watching the rankings on Tuesday morning very closely because power points will be hard to come by the rest of the way.

No. 5 Flowing Wells is now 3-0 in the 5A Sonoran Region and No. 30 Marana Mountain View is also 3-0. In year’s past, the Lions could have clinched a playoff spot by taking the region title but those rules don’t apply this year at the 5A level. Still, the two teams play each other in two weeks.

No. 1 Salpointe beat No. 10 Canyon del Oro 49-6 to remain the only unbeaten team from Southern Arizona at 8-0.

No. 7 Sabino beat No. 11 Pusch Ridge 23-7 to move to 3-0 in the 3A South Region. No. 10 Safford is also 3-0 in the Region. If the Bulldogs can get past Pusch Ridge next Friday and Sabino gets past No. 16 Sahuarita, then another major battle will happen in the final week.

No. 15 Benson is 3-0 in 2A San Pedro Region and No. 11 Willcox is 2-0. If Willcox gets past No. 20 Tombstone next Friday, we will have another huge battle on our hands in the final week.

No. 13 St. David lost to No. 16 Valley Union 44-28 which means there might not be a 1A team from Southern Arizona in the state playoffs with the 12-team bracket that starts next Friday.