Willow steals key win at Boulder Creek

by Jason Stone
SurpriseLights.com
Oct. 5, 2007

It certainly was a third quarter to remember for the Willow Canyon Wildcats in Anthem.

Down 8-2 at halftime, Willow Canyon exploded for 26 straight points to shock Boulder Creek’s Homecoming crowd. The Wildcats held on for a 28-15 win to earn crucial power points for the upcoming playoffs.

Willow Canyon certainly took one giant step closer to the postseason with the win, the teams second in a row against Boulder Creek, a program that is in its second varsity season and first in a region.

While it was the second region game for Boulder Creek, it was the first one for Willow Canyon, putting the Wildcats in a first-place tie with Goldwater and Deer Valley early on in the race.

The Wildcats scored just two minutes into the second half when Justin Weber hauled in a 10-yard pass that was deflected off of two players to make the score 9-8.

Just three minutes after that, Willow Canyon quarterback Trey Clarida tossed another scoring pass – this time to Daniel Torres from 24 yards out, making the score 15-8.

Joey Cota extended the score to 22-8 four minutes later with a 5-yard touchdown run.

As Boulder Creek was attempting to rally, Willow Canyon put a stop to that with a little under four minutes remaining in the game. The Jaguars had moved the ball to first and goal at the Wildcat 1-yard-line, but penalties and a sack moved the ball back.

Willow Canyon’s Justin Jones then picked up a fumble and rumbled 82 yards for the game-clinching score.