ARIZONA—EPHRAIM— The Snow College football team exploded for 85 points in a shutout victory against Gila River Junior College Saturday night inside Terry Foote Stadium.
The 85-0 victory was the Badgers first shutout of the season and tied for the highest point total in the era of Head Coach Zac Erekson. Snow also won a game 85-0 last season over Gordon’s Fine Arts and Sports Academy.
Saturday’s game held much of the same as the Badgers cruised to a win. Snow College scored 65 first-half points – 28 in the first quarter and 37 in the second quarter – the highest first half score under Erekson.
The shutout was also welcomed by the Badgers’ defense after allowing 49 and 38 points in their last two games, respectively.
Snow College needed just three offensive plays to take a 14-0 lead over the Hawks. Carsen Manookin took the second play from scrimmage 51 yards to the end zone. 50 seconds later, on the first play of the drive, Rahsul Faison punched one in from 21 yards out, and the Badgers were up two touchdowns just 80 seconds into the game.
Elijah Ervin and Marquis Montgomery got in on the scoring later in the first quarter. Both scored on jet sweeps, Ervin’s a 9-yard rush and Montgomery’s a 4-yard rush. Snow College took a 28-0 lead into the second quarter where Beau Hall proceeded to score from 35 yards out.
The Badgers scored five more times before the end of the second quarter. A pair of 1-yard plays gave Snow College a 49-0 lead – a pass from Tommy McGrath to Dionte Davis, and a rush by Jaylen Thompson. McGrath found
Solo Piutau for a 14-yard pitch and catch followed by a pick-6 by Bostros Alisandro. The second quarter was capped off on a GRJC punt. With the Hawks punter standing at the back of his own end zone, the snap went over his head and out of the back of the end zone for a safety, giving the Badgers a 65-0 lead at the halftime break. Snow College added three more tallies before the night was over, all on rushes. Adam Johnson scored on a 43-yard rush, while Matt Smith and Hall found the end zone from six and two yards, respectively.
In all, the Badgers scored 11 offensive touchdowns, one defensive touchdown, and a safety. Bradford Willis and Jackson Walker each contributed to the dominant offensive performance, going 11-12 on PAT’s with the only miss coming on a bad snap.
Snow College led in virtually every offensive category en route to the victory. The Badgers racked up 530 yards of total offense with an astounding 381 yards on the ground on 46 attempts for an average 8.3 yards per attempt. They had a total of 30 first downs compared to just nine for the Hawks.
Badger quarterbacks Daisean Cash and McGrath combined to have just four incomplete passes the entire night going 11-14 with one interception. Cash finished 4-4 for 66 yards while McGrath went 7-10 for 83 yards and two touchdowns.
Snow College had two 100-yard rushers in the game. Thompson totaled 107 yards on 18 carries while Hall surpassed the century mark running for 102 yards on 12 carries. Manookin had 66 yards on the ground on three carries, while Johnson scampered for 60 yards also on three carries.
Snow College improves to 3-1 on the season and will have a bye week before taking on Georgia Military College. The No. 11 Bulldogs are an undefeated 4-0 on the season and are coming off a victory against No. 12 Lackawanna College Saturday. The Badgers and the Bulldogs faced off against one another last season. Snow College earned the victory 49- 17 in Milledgeville, Georgia. Kickoff is schedule for 1 p.m. inside Terry Foote Stadium. For video and audio streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.
