A rivalry is born: Gila Ridge stuns region champ Cibola

Gila Ridge and Cibola haven't played 49 times like Yuma and Kofa - in fact they had never played before Friday - but there may be a new rivalry in Yuma.

The Hawks, playing their first year in the 5A Gila Valley Region, marched onto Raider Field on Cibola's homecoming and, 48 defensive-minded minutes later, marched off with a 3-0 win over the region champions.

The win was the second in a row to close the season for Gila Ridge (4-6 overall, 3-2 region), who won 29-28 in overtime last week at Lake Havasu.

"The overtime win was one of our biggest, but this one was great," defensive lineman Esteban Ruano said of the Hawks' first win against an in-city rival. "I think it's going to start a great rivalry with Gila Ridge and the Raiders of Cibola."

Cibola (5-5, 4-1) - which had already clinched the region title with its win over San Luis last week and a playoff spot - got inside the Hawk red zone on all three of its first-half possessions but failed on fourth-down conversions each time.

Even with the playoff spot locked up, Cibola coach Lucky Arvizo said that had no effect on his team's performance against a Hawks' team that had given up 49 or more points five times this year.

"It had no factor at all," Arvizo said. "We're out here ready to play, Gila Ridge was also, and it was a tough game because they're going to be well-prepared. They just beat us tonight."

Raider running back Roy Thompson ran for 90 yards in the first half but had just 46 in the second half. As a team, the Raiders managed 63 yards in the second half, never getting past the Gila Ridge 35.

"All week we watched film and every week we read about Roy Thompson and Roy Thompson and Roy Thompson, so we focused on Roy Thompson," Ruano said. "We figured out a way to stop him."

The lone score of the game came in the third quarter when Javier Bon capped a 16-play, 68-yard drive with a 22-yard field goal. The Hawks converted a third-and-11 and a third-and-15 on the the drive.

Cibola's first drive lasted 13 plays but stalled after first-and-goal at the 10. The Raiders next drive reached the Hawk 19 but got no closer.

"All that is is kids wanting to play and play with heart," Gila Ridge coach Jay Denton said. "That's what it comes down to. They put their nose down and played hard."

The final Raider drive of the half made it to the 5, but a Dylan Arviso pass to Blake Brazeel fell incomplete on fourth down.

"We didn't execute well when we were in the red zone," Arvizo said. "That was part of us not executing when we needed to."

Arviso completed five of his first six passes for 66 yards, but completed two of his last eight for 11 yards.

Ruano said he was at a loss for words after the upset.

"I can't really explain it," he said. "The whole year, with the record we had and no one believing in us and the overtime win we had last Friday helped a lot. We finally came together as a team and no matter what happened we kept playing and didn't stop."

Quarterback Mike Pancrazi led the Hawks with 70 rushing yards and threw for 50 more as Gila Ridge gained just 157 in the game.

"We finally came through here in  the last couple weeks with great defensive play," Denton said. "We played tough. For us, it was a real program-builder."