Gila Ridge blows out Yuma High

The Gila Ridge Hawks soared in a lopsided 41-6 victory over the Yuma High Criminals at home Friday night.

On the night the Hawks' marching band broke out the school's new fighting song, the victory seemed fitting. After the win, Gila Ridge improved to a 2-0 record on the early season while the Criminals dropped to 1-1.

“Our passing game was working,” Gila Ridge coach Jay Denton said.

Denton added that his squad played with heart and gave an all-around effort, insisting that no one player was credited for the win.

“We had some good blocking inside to set up everything we did outside.”

Despite the overall team effort behind the Hawks' victory, part of the reason they pulled away early was the chemistry between senior quarterback Scotty Nickerson and sophomore wide receiver Dalon Perkins.

Nickerson and Perkins connected twice in the first half for a pair of Hawk touchdowns to lead going into halftime. In the second half, a 20-yard run by Perkins set up a 5-yard yard touchdown by wide receiver Jordan Klostreich.

Perkins finished the night with three touchdowns and an interception.

Junior defensive Jacob Kilgore piled on the score for the Hawks by returning an interception 70 yards for a touchdown.

Senior fullback William Hardin put the game out of reach with a touchdown of his own for the Hawks.

The Criminals finally got on the scoreboard late in the fourth quarter when Sedric Rash scored on an 8-yard pass from quarterback Jeremy Conde to make the game 41-6.

“Nothing was working,” Criminals coach Tom Fox said. “We just got worn down, you know. We are down a couple of kids but we are going to keep fighting.”