A homecoming crowd at Smokey Cox Stadium witnessed a wild first quarter that saw the teams combine for 50 points as Webbers Falls took a 34-16 lead. However, Phillip Aquilera ran for three touchdowns and Rowdy Roulston and John Choate scored two apiece to lead Sasakwa to the come-from-behind win.
Sasakwa improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in District C-4 while dropping the Warriors to 3-3 in all games and 3-2 in the league.
Freshman running back Hunter Hume sparked Webbers Falls with 110 yards rushing on 23 attempts and receiver Jacob Glad had a big night with five receptions for 63 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
Both players got on the scoreboard in the first quarter as the Warriors overcame an early 8-0 deficit after Aquilera went 54 yards on the first play of the game.
Glad caught a 10-yard TD pass from Chad Dandridge to cap a 52-yard scoring drive that was kept alive by Dandridge’s run on fourth-and-inches at the Sasakwa 30.
The Warrior defense set up the next score when Kile Turley jarred the ball loose from the Kinta quarterback and Cody Gaxiola recovered it at the Vikings’ two-yard line. Hume scored from there on first-and-goal and Dandridge passed to Glad for the conversion to give Webbers Falls a 14-8 edge with 7:45 left in the quarter.
Webbers Falls got the ball right back when defensive lineman Cody Bukowski pounced on a fumble on Sasakwa’s next play. On first down Dandridge passed 21 yards to Glad for the touchdown and the Warriors led 20-8.
Sasakwa pulled within four later in the quarter, but Mitchell Carman scored two TDs to give the home team a 34-16 advantage. Carman’s first touchdown came on an eight-yard pass from Dandridge. Cody Gaxiola ran for the two-point conversion before Carman added a four-yard TD run to close the first quarter.
Sasakwa battled back in the second period, scoring on a 28-yard run by Choate and a 76-yarder by Roulston to get within 34-30 at halftime.
After the break, Webbers Falls got a three-yard touchdown run from Dandridge, who added the two-point pass to Glad to put the Warriors up 42-30.
It would be all Sasakwa after that, though, as the Vikings reeled off the next 32 points to grab the victory.
Roulston’s three-yard run got the Vikings within 42-38 entering the fourth quarter and they eventually took the lead with 5:28 left on a six-yard Aquilera touchdown run.
Webbers Falls twice turned the ball over on downs in the closing minutes and Sasakwa scored both times to pull away. Aquilera ran 29 yards for a touchdown and Choate ran five yards for the final TD of the night.
“They just wore us down basically,” said Webbers Falls head coach Jeff Jones. “The first quarter lasted 58 minutes because of a clock malfunction and it felt like we played a game and a half. It took a toll on us.”
Webbers Falls finished with 269 yards rushing as a team. Dandridge was the second-leading rusher behind Hume with 12 carries for 67 yards. Allen Lea ran nine times for 43 yards, Carman nine for 28 and Gaxiola three for 16.
Dandridge was 8-of-17 passing for 77 yards and three touchdowns. Glad caught five of those, while Carman had two receptions for 12 yards and Turley one for two yards.
Allen Lea paced the Warrior defense with 10 tackles. A.J. McFarland suffered an ankle injury but made eight tackles, Justin Lea seven, Turley seven and Gaxiola six. Dandridge picked off a pass for Webbers Falls and came up with two of the Warriors’ four fumble recoveries.
