Tucson's upset bid falls short
Devils hang on after leading by 17 in 4th period
By Brett Booen
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.04.2008

The Tucson Badgers are almost there.

But coach Vincent Smith probably needs one more year before he has Tucson (2-3) pulling off the kind of upsets it nearly did in Friday night's game against Sunnyside.

The host Badgers went toe-to-toe with the Blue Devils and had their roaring comeback late in the fourth quarter fall just short, as Sunnyside (3-2) escaped with a 24-17 victory.

"It's a difference between getting there and being there," Smith said. "Sunnyside's already there. They know how to win. They've got the championships. We're still learning how to be there."

For Sunnyside, it was a fairly sloppy win. The Blue Devils were flagged for 13 penalties for 95 yards.

"It's hard to execute when you're getting penalized," said Devils coach Richard Sanchez.

Sunnyside took a 10-0 lead with 13.8 seconds left in the first half on a 35-yard field goal by Hector Solis, and it seemed that was the lead the Blue Devils would take into halftime.

But Tucson's William Griffin took the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to cut the Blue Devils' lead to 10-7.

Sunnyside opened the second half with a Manny Aguilar running attack that could not be stopped. On fourth-and-2 early in the third quarter, Aguilar rushed 41 yards on a counter through an open seam for a Sunnyside touchdown.

Aguilar carried 22 times for 116 yards and a score.

The real drama started with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter.

Badgers quarterback Peter Borquez threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Daniel Malone on the first play after a Sunnyside punt to narrow the deficit to 10.

The Badgers' defense forced another quick punt and took to driving the field with an efficient 2-minute offense.

"When we got a little desperate and things had to happen, we got more aggressive," said Smith.

With 25.9 seconds left, Martin Encinas made a 22-yard field goal and the Badgers tried an onside kick that rolled out of bounds.

Sunnyside then ran out the clock.

"We just didn't come after them with everything we had," SS quarterback Jesus Vega said.