Matador football travels to Pima
(3) Arizona Western at Pima
Kickoff: 7 p.m. tonight
Media: Radio - 560 KBLU; Internet - www.azwestern.edu/athletics
Last game: The Matadors beat Ellsworth (Iowa) Community College 49-14; The Aztecs beat the Air Force Academy junior varsity team 24-12.
Records: AWC (1-0, 0-0 Western States Football League); Pima (1-2 overall, 0-1 WSFL)
Players to watch: With Randy Gregory done for the year, the linebacking corps will look to D'Vante Henry to step up his play. He had a strong first game, recording 10 tackles. ... Running back Alfonso Avitia had a career day against the AFA JV, rushing for 305 yards on 26 carries. He scored once.
AWC coach Tom Minnick's comments: Minnick did not return messages left by the Yuma Sun.
The lowdown: Perhaps the biggest advantage Pima has heading into this game is experience — they've played three games this year to just one for the Matadors. And that one game left the Matadors with a lot of questions — Who's the quarterback? Can the running game get on track? — and that was before Gregory went down with a season-ending injury during practice. ... The quarterback question is unlikely to be answered any time soon for the Matadors — started Cedric McCloud struggled two weeks ago against Ellsworth, going 3 for 9 for 18 yards and an interception. Of the four Matadors to throw a pass — including running back J.C. Baker out of the team's “WildMat” formation — McCloud was the only one without a touchdown. Kendall Barnes was the most impressive of the QB carousel, going 7 for 14 for 106 yards and a TD. ... As for running back, Baker got a brunt of the carries but for only 57 yards. Teddy Monroe was the leading rusher with eight carries for 61 yards and two TDs. ... The Matadors beat the Aztecs 58-14 last year in Yuma. The Matadors last lost to Pima in 2005, getting hammered 62-20 in Tucson.
-Edward Carifio
