Penalties doom Matadors in championship loss

Yellow flags are nothing new to the Arizona Western football team, as the Matadors have been one of the most penalized teams in the Western States Football League.

However it never really cost them as they rolled through the regular season 11-0 and earned the No. 1 ranking in the country and the right to host No. 2 East Mississippi in the El Toro Bowl Presented by Time Warner Cable.

But those yellow flags caught up to the Matadors Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in a 55-47 loss to the Lions, giving EMCC the first football national championship in school history.

“If we just came out and played like we usually play, it would have been a different story,” said Minnick, whose Matadors fell down 27-0 in the first half. “But we made too many mistakes the first half, personal fouls and jumping offsides and stuff like that. And the big play that killed us was the fumble on their quarterback. We got the ball back, Steffon picked it up and he was gone. But it is what it is. It's our fault for the discipline and stuff the first half that hurt us. If we just showed up, we would have been alright.”

The play Minnick referred to happened late in the third quarter when East Mississippi quarterback Bo Wallace — who threw for seven touchdowns and 453 yards — was sacked. The ball came loose and Steffon Martin picked it up and had a clear path to the end zone, but Wallace was ruled down. The play would have made the game 48-41, but instead the Lions scored two plays later on a sneak by Antoinne Adkins, who was playing quarterback in the Wildcat formation. The score put EMCC ahead 55-34.

The Matadors committed 12 first-half penalties for 89 yards according to the official stats.

Even though the problem persisted all year, Minnick said there's not much that can be done.

“It is disappointing, but I can't get rid of every kid,” Minnick said. “There comes a time you just have to deal with it. You can make them run, you can make them roll, you can do whatever you want, but it is what it is. If we just showed up and played football, it wouldn't be like this. We'd be celebrating. But we didn't show up in the beginning and that's what cost us.”

The Matadors (11-1) got a pair touchdown passes from Cameron Coffman in the fourth quarter — both to running back Damien Williams — to make it an eight point game. The defense, for the first time all game, held the Lions scoreless in a quarter, but the early hole was too much to overcome.

The Lions finished with 538 yards of total offense. Running back Rodriguez Moore had a 96-yard touchdown on a screen pass to go with 94 rushing yards.

In the third quarter, the Matadors were catching up to the Lions (12-0). A trick play out of the Wild-Mat offense — Williams pitched to Ford, who threw down field to Coffman for a 22-yard score — cut the EMCC lead to 41-20. Wallace followed with his only interception of the game, then Williams broke off a 68-yard run for a touchdown to cut the score to 41-27.

Moore said his reception was a big play.

“I knew they were going to jump offsides so I told Bo Wallace to do a swing and dump it off to me, I'm going to take it to the house,” Moore said.

EMCC coach Buddy Stephens agreed with his tailback.

“That was a huge play for us,” Stephens said. “Before that we had several plays we screwed up on our coverages is. It was something.... Hey, I don't care. We won. We're national champions. And that's not something a lot of people get to say they are.”

It was the first title for Stephens as a head coach after winning one as an assistant at Pearl River in 2004.

“We're just fortunate, blessed, all those things you know you're going to feel when you come out here,” Stephens said. “It's just huge. We're just happy to be here.”

Most of the Matadors were quick to leave the field. Williams started to give an interview but couldn't.

“It's crushing, you know...” Williams said before walking away overcome with tears. He didn't come back out.

The EMCC defense started strong, but allowed 307 of the Matadors total 439 yards in the second half.

“We started out pretty good but we started getting worn down near the end,” defensive lineman Denico Autry said. “We wanted it, though. We wanted it more.”