Criminals rout Goldwater

 The Yuma High Criminals had reason to be nervous going into Friday night's game against Goldwater knowing that their top player, J.C. Baker had been ill all week and would not be 100 percent.

Luckily for Yuma, even Baker's illness could not hold him back.

 Baker still managed a total of 166 yards of offense and two touchdowns as the Criminals cruised to a 47-19 victory.

 "This was a big win for us," said Yuma (2-0) coach Tom Fox. "We got beat by Goldwater 36-0 last year, and then we came out here and challenged them with a lot of guys stepping up for us to dominate, especially in the first 24 minutes."

 It did not take long for Yuma to strike offensively.  On the first play of scrimmage, quarterback Donte Jackson threw a bootleg pass to Baker who quickly got behind the Bulldogs defense and raced to an 82-yard touchdown reception.

 Goldwater answered right back with Bobby Calvin, an offensive star of their own, ran through the Yuma defense for a quick 44 yards and set up a one-yard touchdown by Fred Harvey.

 It would be from there that the Yuma offense would take over.

 On their next possession, Jackson rolled out after a botched snap to find a wide open Andrew Herrarte who ran it in for a 61-yard touchdown.

 Through just the first two series, Jackson was 4-4 for 157 yards and two touchdowns.

 Yuma would continue building its lead in second quarter by scoring 28 unanswered points. Trayvon Clark had a 27-yard touchdown run, and Herrarte had another touchdown reception, this time off a 38-yard reverse pass thrown by Louis Aguiar.

 Of course Baker wouldn't be left out of the action either as he chipped in a 20-yard touchdown run. The half would end with Criminals defensive back David Chavoya returning an interception for a 35-yard touchdown, giving Yuma a commanding 40-6 lead.

 Similar to last week against Gila Ridge, the Criminals came out flat in the second half. Bobby Calvin began running all over the Yuma defense, gaining 74 yards and scoring a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to bring Goldwater to within 21 points.

 However the Yuma defense would buckle down in the fourth quarter holding the Bulldogs to just 32 yards. The Criminals offense would get going again too as Kealii Chin would come in and replace a hurting Jackson, making his only pass a 19-yard touchdown to Herrarte, his third of the game for a total of 121 yards.

 "I wouldn't trade it," said Fox about his team's second half play. "When we needed to we still made the big plays, even though we're still missing some guys on both sides of the ball."