AWC football tops Pima

It took awhile for the Arizona Western football team to get going, but the Matadors scored the last 21 points to win 32-14 at Pima on Saturday.

The Matadors trailed 14-11 at halftime. In 2011, they didn’t trail at any point in the regular season.

AWC took the lead for good in the third when Emmanuel Bibbs made a diving catch in the corner of the endzone on a pass from Tanner McEvoy, putting the Mats ahead 18-14.

The game was a strange scoring affair from the start. AWC (2-0) went for a two-point conversion on their first touchdown. Quarterback Tanner McEvoy snuck in the conversion after hooking up with Andre O’Neil on a 5-yard touchdown pass.

The Aztecs (1-3) eventually tied the game on two field goals and a safety — the safety coming when Tremaine McCullough fumbled a kickoff recovered by Pima in the end zone, the first of two botched returns for McCullough.

DeSean Martin, getting his first action of the year at running back, carrying the ball 18 times for 110 yards. He scored from 25 yards out to put the Matadors ahead 25-14, then McEvoy found Markeith Ambles on a 34-yard pass for AWC’s final score. McEvoy finished with 226 all-purpose yards. He threw for 148, going 13 for 20 for 148 and three touchdowns and no interceptions. He had 78 yards rushing on eight carries.

Reggie Taylor had two interceptions for the Matadors as the team forced five turnovers.
The Matadors play their first home game of the year Saturday when they host Scottsdale.