AWC stuns No. 4 Snow

Arizona Western College made sure to pack its rushing game on the bus headed to Utah, and now the Matadors can start thinking about taking a road trip to a bowl game this year.

No. 24 AWC began its 2009 season with nearly 300 yards on the ground and convincingly handed No. 4 Snow College its first home loss in five seasons with a 35-17 win Saturday.

"This is a great start, but our team has bigger plans than just beating Snow," said AWC coach Tom Minnick, who is now 2-0 in season openers as a Matador. "We want to keep it going. Our goal is to win the conference and go to a bowl game and see what happens from there."

The upset is the first time AWC has beaten Snow since 2004 and comes without the help of 10 players suspended for the first two games of the season. The Matadors nearly came back to pull off a win last year in Ephraim, Utah, but took an early lead this time and never let the Badgers get within two scores.

AWC freshman Reggie Bullock had 19 carries for 202 yards, highlighted by a 96-yard dash early in the fourth quarter to put his team ahead 28-10 and cash in on a critical defensive stand. The Matadors recovered a fumble by Snow's preseason All-American Tyson Church on the 1-yard line two plays earlier.

AWC also got 92 yards on nine attempts from George Conley, including a 40-yard touchdown run in the fourth that closed the book on the Badgers.

"They did really well getting to the holes," Minnick said. "Reggie and George did excellent jobs."

Snow quarterback Quinn Mecham spent most of the day trying to avoid Matador defenders. He was 19-of-29 for 222 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw an interception late in the game and was sacked six times.

"After a week of bad practices I wasn't sure if we could come out early and do so well, but I think they were just tired of playing against our offense and knowing what was coming," Minnick said. "The D-line got after it today. We had control of things up front and just kept coming and coming."

The Matadors racked up 475 yards of total offense, 297 on the ground. Quarterback Brandon Gorsuch was 8 of 14 for 137 yards and a touchdown pass to Derrell Person, and sophomore defensive tackle Ben Swarts had his first rushing touchdown as a Matador.

"We had it in our power package early, and once (Demetrius) Guice gets back it will only get better," Minnick said. "That's the amazing thing to me is that we had eight starters that didn't play and we still did a hell of a job."

AWC hosts Phoenix College at 7 p.m. Saturday as it will go for its first 2-0 start since 2004.