Mustangs close season with 36-0 win over Rio Rico

For the first time since Sept. 25, the Sahuarita Mustangs left the football field in a good mood.

Well, sort of.

The Mustangs (3-7, 2-5 4A-II Gila) crushed the hapless Rio Rico Hawks 36-0 in their season finale on Friday night (putting a damper on Rio Rico‘s senior night festivities in the process), but a chippy game grew increasingly physical in the fourth quarter, which led to a number of scuffles, personal foul penalties, and ejections for Sam Gelardi and Chris Brown, along with a handful of Rio Rico players.

“Rio Rico played chippy all night, and we didn’t rise above it,” said head coach Bernie McCall.

Throughout the game, Rio Rico’s players consistently kept hitting well after the whistle and did everything they could to get under Sahuarita’s skin. However, none of those below-the-belt tactics did anything to help Rio Rico on the field, as the Hawks (1-9, 0-7) were inept in every phase of the game.

Sahuarita held Rio Rico to 93 yards rushing and nine yards (yes, nine) through the air. Quarterback Zackary Sbragia completed only one of eight passes and was picked off three times -- twice by Gelardi and once by Steve Figueroa.

The Hawks also lost a fumble and committed nearly a dozen penalties. In addition, Rio Rico managed only two first downs in the first half and the squad’s longest play from scrimmage was 16 yards.

The Mustangs, on the other hand, finally snapped that dreadful six-game losing streak and sent the nearly two dozen seniors off on a high note. Sahuarita rushed for 172 yards on 39 carries, led by yet another outstanding effort from Matt Gradillas (21 carries, 152 yards, one touchdown).

Nate Moon finished his career with one of his finest outings, going 8-12 for 140 yards and two scores.

“Both of these teams have had their struggles this year,” McCall said. “It felt good to see our boys get back on track. We did a lot of things well tonight.”

For the final game of the season, Moon, Gelardi, Eric Nelson and Ethan Brazie earned the captain spots, with McCall singling out Nelson, in particular, for his sustained excellence throughout 2009.

Rio Rico attempted an onside kick on the game’s first play, but the Mustangs recovered on the 45-yard line and wasted little time getting into the end zone. Sparked by Gradillas’ terrific effort on a fourth-and-10 screen play (fighting his way for 12 yards and a key first down), Moon connected with Gelardi for a 17-yard touchdown pass to put Sahuarita ahead 7-0.

Gelardi was at it again on the Hawks’ second play from scrimmage, as he picked off Sbragia’s underthrown pass to give the Mustangs’ possession on the 44-yard line.

Three plays later, Gradillas scored on a well-blocked up-the-middle rush from 37 yards out -- 14-0 Mustangs.

After yet another Rio Rico three-and-out, the Mustangs appeared poised to tack on a third touchdown, but a fumbled exchange between Moon and Humberto Jacquez deep in Hawks’ territory gave Rio Rico possession on the 12-yard line.

However, Rio Rico was unable to do anything with the turnover, leading to yet another punt. Sahuarita moved the ball 62 yards in four minutes, capped by a five-yard touchdown plunge from Jacquez to give Sahuarita a 21-0 first-quarter advantage.

The Mustangs tacked on one more score before halftime, with Moon finding Gabe Bencomo for a 65-yard touchdown (with Bencomo making a terrific move to get into the open field) with less than a minute before intermission.

After a 20-minute ceremony to honor the Rio Rico seniors, Gelardi picked off yet another underthrown Sbragia pass, but fumbled it during his return. Essentially, it was a complicated four-yard gain for Rio Rico, but the Hawks weren’t able to capitalize, as they were stuffed on fourth-and-two.

The Mustangs took over on the 48-yard line, and Gradillas immediately put his team in scoring range after breaking off a 43-yard run. However, Sahuarita stalled in the red zone, with Rio Rico stopping the Mustangs on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line.

Sahuarita did score once more on quarterback Taylor Koon’s five-yard rush around the left end on a possession set up by numerous bone-headed Rio Rico personal foul penalties.

The Hawks had two more chances to put points on the board, but those drives ended in a Figueroa interception and a Sahuarita fumble recovery.

The Mustangs attempted to spend the rest of the fourth quarter milking the clock with their dominant rushing attack, but the personal foul penalties kept racking up for both squads. In an ugly scene near the end of the game, Rio Rico’s Miguel Perez and Sahuarita’s Mark McKenna nearly got into a fight, after the players refused to let go after the play had been whistled dead.

Once order was restored, the final whistle blew and the Mustangs were all smiles in the post-game huddle.

Despite losing 22 seniors, McCall seems optimistic that next year’s squad will see much more success. Injuries and key mistakes in the heart of the conference schedule derailed a potentially solid 2009 season.

“We have some good linemen and some solid leadership coming up from the JV squad, so I think we’ll be in pretty good shape going forward,” McCall said.

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