Let the North Central Conference games begin.
Yuma High School’s football team will open North Central play Friday with a visit from the Burlington Cougars. It is the middle game of a three-game homestand for the Outlaws.
They enter the league opener with a 3-1 record after enduring a 36-7 pounding by the Brush Beetdiggers last Friday. Burlington comes to town 4-0 after last Friday’s 52-23 win at Denver Christian.
“They’ve all been playing varsity since they were freshmen,” coach Kelly Seward said of the Cougars. “It seems this is a group the whole town (of Burlington) has been waiting on. They’re just real physical. There’s a lot of similarities between us.”
Yuma is No. 6 in the CHSAA 1A Selection & Seeding Index, while Burlington is No. 3.
Limon is 3-1 at No. 4 after losing a close one at Buena Vista, who is now No. 1. Wray is No. 8 with a 2-2 record, Wiggins No. 16 with a 1-3 record, and Holyoke No. 20 with a 2-2 record. In the other North Central openers, Wiggins is hosting Limon on Friday, and Wray hosts Holyoke on Saturday afternoon.
“It doesn’t slow down now,” Seward said. “I feel we are trending in the right direction, but if you don’t stay on top of it, you can suddenly find yourself in trouble.”
Brush now is No. 2 in the 2A Index after improving to 4-0 last Friday in Yuma
The Outlaws had opportunities to keep it fairly close, but did not capitalize, and the Beetdiggers eventually pulled away to the 29-point win.
There was no stopping the aptly-named Ritchie Bruno. The 6-foot, 185-pound senior rumbled for 202 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. He led a Brush ground attack that rolled up 366 yards and five touchdowns against the Outlaws. Brush passed for just 53 yards, including 39 on one scramble play, but did not really need to go to the air.
Yuma’s ground game, which had produced three 100-yard runners the week before, was limited to 44 yards on 23 carries. The Outlaws had to go to the air, and they responded a bit with Iann Duran completing nine of 14 passes for 117 yards and one touchdown. It was all the Outlaws could muster, though.
Brush scored immediately on Bruno’s 67-yard run for a quick 7-0 lead.
Yuma drove into Brush territory on its first possession, including converting a fourth down with a 22-yard pass from Duran to Reyli Trejo. However, the drive stalled out when Duran stumbled on a fourth-down scramble.
Brush put together a 61-yard drive capped by Eric Rico’s 18-yard touchdown run.
The Outlaws trailed 14-0 in the first quarter, and started their next possession on their own 20. However, Duran completed a long pass to Stevie Seward, converted a third-and-1, and then found Christian Thomson in the middle of the field for a 19-yard touchdown. Omar Lozano kicked the extra point, and Yuma trailed just 14-7 in the second quarter.
Brush had a touchdown nullified by a chop block penalty, then came up short on fourth down. Yuma couldn’t move the ball, and the half ended 14-7.
The Outlaws opened the second half with a 44-yard catch and run to Trejo that would have put then deep into Brush territory. However, it was nullified by a penalty. The Outlaws still drove into Brush territory but the drive stalled and they had to punt.
Brush moved the ball again on the ground, but it appeared the Yuma defense was going to force a fourth-and-15, but a late-hit penalty on third down reversed that, and Bruno scored on an 11-yard run.
It was 21-7 when Rico scored on a 35-yard run in the fourth for a 28-7 Brush lead.
Brush tacked on one more touchdown late in the game, then converted a 2-point pass for the final score.
Seward had two catches for 49 yards for Yuma, Thomson two for 38 yards and one TD, Trejo three for 23 yards, David Covarrubias one for four yards, and Marvin Duarte one for three. Daden Beauprez ran for 21 yards on five carries, Duran 17 on nine carries, Thomson eight yards on six carries, and Covarrubias two yards.
Defensively, Duarte was in on 15 tackles, Beauprez eight, Jesus Gordo seven, Giovanni Segura seven, Brodie Kallweit six, Trejo five, Lief Sims five, Jose Mario Ross four, Covarrubias four, Seward four, David Gaytan four, Bryan Montes four, Ethan Nadow two, Dallas Brunk two, Tanner Himes two, and Chuey Rodriguez one.
“It’s a bummer they scored at the end because that game was closer than the final score,” Seward said. “I thought that for two-and-a-half to three quarters we played really well, but then it got away from us.”