Last call for Pima football at home

Story by HANK ROBICHAUD 

Photos by HANK ROBICHAUD, MADYSON HOWARTH and JOE GIDDENS

It’s like this every time Pima Community College plays Eastern Arizona College, according to Head coach Jim Monaco’s wife, Dannielle Monaco. 

She said she fainted when the two teams faced off a couple years ago from how close and exciting that game was.  

It’s been that kind of week, both on and off the field in the twilight of Pima Football. Monaco was named Pima Community College’s new Acting Athletics Director on Oct. 29. 

This comes after the Aztecs played the program’s final home game on Oct. 27. They faced off against No. 9 Eastern Arizona Gila Monsters.

It was a close and chippy game throughout but the Aztecs outlasted the Gila Monsters in the end, when Jake Smith blocked a literal last-second field goal to secure the win 28-26.

There was a miscommunication of the score between the scoreboard and what the referees had on the field, with just a few seconds left in the game. The score was 28-26, not 28-25, as the scoreboard showed. This would have mattered significantly if the field goal had not been blocked to win the game. The coaches were unhappy with the miscommunication as well.

“It’s tough,” Monaco said. “I know they have a lot going, but we did ask them to confirm it four or five times before it happened, and they kept giving us the confirmation to do that at the end. I mean the score was what it was, and at the end God took care of it. We confirmed before we were going to go for 2, but when they said we were up by 2, we kicked the extra point instead of going for 2.”

Marquise Cooper played a major role in the win catching a 32-yard touchdown pass from Brooks ringer early in the game and later lead the team on the game-winning touchdown drive with 3:25 left in the fourth. 

“The O-Line held them up, and I was out there playing 7-on-7 and we just executed and we drove the ball down the field,” Marquise Cooper said. “I threw a pick, and we came back bounced back and drove the ball down and scored.” 

The defense was able to hold the Gila Monsters to a three and out, to allow for the game-winning drive to take place, after Cooper threw an interception the drive before. 

Freshman Jamie Avila had a 40-yard field goal going into halftime, which had the Aztecs in the lead at halftime 21-12. 

The Aztecs had some big turnovers on defense with a fumble recovery by freshman Tommy Woo and an interception by Moris Lugo. 

This was an emotional game for both sides as there were a slew of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

“This was insane. My legs are still shaking,” Monaco said about the game. “It was emotional and incredible. To see the crowd and those who started the program. I hadn’t seen some of them in a long time. It was unbelievable.” 

For the Aztecs, winning this game is a big accomplishment, not only because of the ranked opponent, but the lasting impact that win will have on the program because it is the last home game.

 The Aztecs defeated Air Force Prep Huskies 21-13 on Oct. 20 in a hard-fought battle at Cholla High School. 

 

The Aztecs scored all of their points in the second quarter as their offense stalled in the second half.

Brooks Ringer was a part of every touchdown for the Aztecs. He had a 1-yard rushing touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, and followed that up with a 23-yard run on the next drive to make it 14-0.

With under two minutes left in the second quarter, the Aztecs had a 76-yard drive capped off by a 17-yard touchdown pass by Ringer to Dylan Holt. 

With the Aztecs having trouble moving the ball the rest of the game the defense stepped up holding the the Huskies to just 13 points throughout the game. 

Effort seemed to be lacking for the Aztecs for most of the game, as the energy was very flat.

“Effort, effort as a whole. Practice harder and play harder, have to practice like you play you have to come prepared and do things to set you up in good positions,” Tommy Lawrence said. 

“We have to come to play,” he continued. “We been making plays on defense all year. We have to come make more plays because Eastern is going to be a better team then this is and man, we just have to ball out.”

From the growth of the Aztecs throughout the season, a slight stumble in a game is nothing out of the ordinary for the game of football. 

Luckily, the learning game for the Aztecs comes out on the winning end rather than the losing end.