Pima High School’s football team parlayed a number of Safford Bulldog errors and missed opportunities, as well as few fortunate breaks, into a 41-3 home win on Friday, Aug. 26.
On paper, the Roughriders, a Division 2A team who were playing their season opener, would have appeared to have been overmatched against a Division 3A team in Safford that had opened its season with a 27-20 road win over Phoenix Christian. But paper is cheap, and Pima rewrote the script and added a number of exclamation points.
Pima jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back, blocking passes, tackling for losses and forcing fumbles throughout the contest while dodging a few bullets along the way.
Safford’s lone score came with 9:52 left in the second quarter, and its biggest break was an hour-long game delay in the third quarter due to lightning.
Pima (1-0) next heads due east Friday to Thatcher to play the 2-0 Eagles, who edged Eastmark at home, 31-30, in their most recent contest.
Safford (1-1) will play host to undefeated Morenci (2-0). The Wildcats have dominated their opponents this season by a combined score of 74-6, including a 44-0 thrashing of Tanque Verde this past Friday.
In other regional action, Duncan (1-1) defeated Fort Thomas (0-2) by a score of 50-22. The Wildkats next entertain San Manuel. The Apaches will also be at home this Friday against Cicero Prep.
