By Frank Smith
The San Manuel Miners varsity football team took the long and winding road to Baboquivari last Fri. night to face off with the Warriors in the 2012 season opener. The Miners blanked the Warriors 49 – 0 picking up their first win of the season.
San Manuel wasted no time getting onto the scoreboard as Running Back John Ruiz scored on a 35 yard sweep to the right side of the field for the touchdown, the extra point kick by Shane Kelly was good for a 7 – 0 Miner lead with 10:46 left in the first quarter.
The Miners scored again in the first quarter at the 8:26 mark as Ruiz took the ball 42 yards down the left side of the field for another touchdown, the PAT kick by Kelly was good for a 14 – 0 lead.
San Manuel continued to score, this time the score came from the defensive side of the ball as Adrian Torres forced a fumbled that was recovered by Colton Smith who then picked up the loose ball and ran it in for the touchdown from 22 yards out, the extra point kick by Kelly was good for a 21 – 0 score with 2:45 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Miners poured on the pressure as the defense was relentless and the offensive marched on this time with Kelly taking the hand off and hitting the right side of the line for a 10 yard touchdown run, the extra point kick by Kelly was no good for a 27 – 0 score with 8:47 in the quarter.
The special teams got into the action as Andre Sierra returned a punt 73 yards to the right side of the field for the touchdown, the PAT kick by Kelly was good for a 34 – 0 Miners lead with 4:34 left in the second quarter.
The Miners defense forced a punt that would result in another Sierra punt return for a 60 yard touchdown run to the right side of the field, the two point conversion by Ruiz was good for a 42 – 0 lead with 1:58 left before the half.
In the third quarter, the Miners would score one last time as Ruiz sprinted 35 yards down field for his third touchdown of the night, the extra point kick by Kelly was good for a 49 – 0 final score.
Offensively, Ruiz had 11 carries for 202 yards with three touchdowns and a two point conversion, Kelly had one carry for 10 yards and one touchdown, Smith had one carry for seven yards, Ben Quijada had five carries for 30 yards, Torres had one carry for 12 yards, and Armando Lopez had one carry for two yards.
Defensively, Danny Quijada had nine tackles, five assisted, and one sack, Anthony Garcia had three tackles, and four assisted, Smith had five tackles, two assisted, and a fumble recovery, Kelly had three tackles, three assisted, and one and a half sacks, Jonathan Croci had three tackles and one assisted, Richard Romo had four tackles and one assisted, Michael Sanchez had one tackle and four assisted, Armando Lopez had five tackles and two assisted, Bryan Valdez had one tackle and two assisted, Ruiz had one tackle, Jaime Lopez had one tackle, Ben Quijada had an assisted tackle, Samantha Gonzales had one tackle, Adrian Diaz had one tackle, one assisted, and one and a half sacks, Bryce Main had three tackles and one assisted and Roberto Lee had one tackle.
The Miners will travel over to Eloy Santa Cruz to take on the Dust Devils on Friday night, kick off is slated for 7:00 p.m.