Shamrocks still Kings

With as many offensive weapons as Yuma Catholic has, it's pretty hard for opposing teams to play from behind.

And when the Kings turned the ball over the first time it touched their hands, they faced an uphill climb the rest of the game.

The Shamrocks raced out to a 31-7 lead in the second quarter and went on to defeat Kofa for the second straight year, 51-34, Friday at YC's Ricky Gwynn Stadium.

"You've got to try to win this inter-city stuff because it's such a big deal for your program," YC coach Rhett Stallworth said. "We're excited. We thought we could've played better in a lot of ways. This isn't going to take us to a state championship at this point, but Kofa played hard."

YC quarterback Matt Inman completed 15-of-28 passes for 295 yards and accounted for all seven Shamrock touchdowns - five passing and two rushing.

Inman found eight different receivers on the game - hitting four different targets for touchdowns.

Ernie Samaniego caught four passes for 89 yards and touchdowns of 41 and 13 yards.

Rod Ford hauled in three receptions for 91 yards and a 37-yard touchdown.

"I think we've got some receivers who can play," Stallworth said. "Ernie Samaniego stepped up real well, Rod's always pretty good and Austin (Rodriguez) caught the ball well. We had maybe one or two dropped passes, but we have to get better at that too."

Kofa made a charge to cut the deficit to two possessions. Kings' running back Timmy Lee ran in a score from 2-yards out with 12 seconds remaining in the first half.

And on the opening drive of the second half, quarterback Kane Nelson eluded the pass rush, broke a couple tackles and found Brandon Cradic in the back of the end zone for a 20-yard score to cut YC's lead to 31-21.

"It was too much to overcome," Kofa coach Kevin Moore said. "We bounced back, but with an offense like (YC's), you can't fall behind like that."

YC answered right back with a 6-play drive that covered 66 yards - all on the ground - capped off by an Inman 4-yard keeper. And the Shamrocks went up 45-21 when Samaniego made a leping sideline catch on a fourth -and-26.

Lee led Kofa with 148 rushing yards and two touchdowns in about three quarters of work. Lee didn't see a carry in the fourth quarter with Kofa playing from behind.

His other touchdown was a 43-yard run in the second quarter.

Cy Portman caught four passes for 61 yards for Kofa, and Dominic Castaneda was on the receiving end of a 35-yard touchdown pass.

"We have to do a better job on defense. Fifty one points is too many to give up," Moore said. "We have a lot of changes to make there, and it's about the kids buying in and coming with a better effort."