Bulldogs beat Amphi

TUCSON - Not since 1970 had the Douglas Bulldogs beaten the Amphi Panthers in football.

That all changed Friday night thanks to an incredible defensive effort and a three touchdown performance by Joel Bello which included a 99-yard kickoff return that broke a record set by the late great Gib Dawson in 1947 as the Bulldogs secured themselves a berth in the postseason following a wild 30-28 win Friday night at Amphi High School.

Amphi had a 61-39 edge in total plays run and a 299-289 edge in total yardage but it was the Bulldogs offensive big play capabilities and a defensive safety that led to Douglas pulling off what many are calling one of the biggest wins in recent DHS football history.

The win gives Douglas a 6-3 record overall with one game remaining in the regular season and puts the Dogs on pace to have one of its better seasons since 1981 when Mike Foster coached DHS to an 8-3 record. Douglas made the playoffs that year falling to Tempe’s Corona del Sol in the first round.

A lot was at stake for both teams going into Friday’s Gila Regional game. Both Douglas and Amphi were tied for third place in the Gila Region and looking to get some kind of momentum established going into the post season. Plus it was Mom and Dad’s night at Amphi High School as their senior football players were honored by the Amphi coaches before the game.

Tucson media had tabbed this game the game of the week and had picked Amphi to win 38-21. A pre-game story in Friday’s Arizona Daily Star indicated the Amphi players and coaches had some serious respect for the Bulldog defense and knew they were going to be in for a battle.

Amphi took advantage of a defensive letdown their second series of the game to complete a 33-yard halfback option pass for a touchdown taking a 7-0 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff Douglas did not have Bello, wearing his jersey number 7 back waiting for the kick instead there was David Figueroa wearing his number 22.

What Amphi didn’t know was that Bello’s white jersey was damaged in the last road game at Santa Rita and he was actually wearing Figueroa’s number Friday night.

It didn’t take long for the Amphi coaches to realize that was not Figueroa (who is out with an injury) back at the goal line but instead Bello who took the kickoff at the one, found some holes and used his 4.1 40 speed to burst through the Amphi special teams for a 99-yard kickoff return setting a DHS record along the way surpassing the legendary Dawson by four yards. Mike Abrigo’s extra point tied the game at 7-7.

Midway through the second quarter Oscar Rios broke free for a 35-yard touchdown run giving Douglas a 14-7 lead.

Amphi came right back on its next possession and scored from three-yards out tying the game back up at 14-14.

With 84 seconds left before halftime Bello caught a 47-yard TD pass from AJ Acosta giving Douglas a 21-14 lead.

Amphi began the ensuing possession at the 20 but a block in the back against Amphi forced the Panthers to their own 10-yard line and on second-and-20 they ran a reverse that was snuffed out by Nick Nunez and the Douglas defense in the end zone. The safety gave the Bulldogs a 23-14 halftime lead and would later prove to be the difference in the game.

Amphi picked off an Acosta pass in the third quarter and would later score on a 15-yard touchdown run. The successful two point conversion pulled the Panthers to within one at 23-22.

Not deterred the Bulldogs came right back on their next possession and Acosta and Bello again teamed up this time on a 62-yard touchdown strike giving Douglas a 30-22 lead.

Early in the fourth quarter Douglas had a first and goal at Amphi’s nine-yard line. Unable to score on second or third down the Bulldogs opted to forgo the field goal and try to score on fourth down. Bello was stopped at the four and Amphi took over 96 yards away from the end zone.

Douglas coaches said after the game their defense had done a good job of shutting down Amphi’s offense the second half and they figured they would do it again forcing the Panthers to punt from deep in their territory which would allow Douglas to run out the clock.

Instead Amphi would drive the 96-yards in 15 plays chewing up over eight minutes on the clock scoring on a seven yard run on fourth down with 95 seconds left in the game.

The Douglas defense stuffed the two point conversion but the Dogs were not out of the woods yet.

Amphi would recover the onside kick but they had only one timeout left using two on the previous drive.

The Panthers ran for two yards on first down and had incomplete passes on second and third down.

Faced with a fourth and seven at the Bulldog 32, the Douglas coaches called timeout.

Coach Ron Ellsworth advised his defense to expect the halfback option pass Amphi had tried and scored on in the first quarter. Sure enough the Panthers called that play only this time the Douglas linebackers were there and the running back never got off the pass being hit for a loss as the Douglas players, coaches and fans began to celebrate a big win over a Amphi team and their legendary coach.

Acosta would finish the game 6 of 11 in passing for 147 yards. Bello would have two receptions for 109 yards while Spencer Grijalva and Diego Chavez would each have two receptions for 20 and 18 yards respectively.

Amphi ran the ball 48 times for 240 yards while Douglas had 28 for 142. Rios would finish the night with 15 carries for 127-yards – his second straight 100 plus yard game. Hector Grijalva would have four carries for 32-yards.

Coach Ellsworth was beaming with pride after the game to the point he was speechless.

“I’m so fricken excited I don’t know what to say,” he said. “This is a huge win for this program. We haven’t beaten a winning team in a long, long time. … And then with what was at stake? These kids really rose to the occasion. They were not going to come away with loss.”

Coach Keith also showed his pride after the game saying how proud he was of this team.

“These kids really gave it their all tonight,” Keith said afterwards. “It was back and forth. These were two evenly matched teams. … We were leery of the wishbone because (Amphi) runs it so well. We stopped it at time but then it got away from us at times but these kids made some big plays when they had to and that’s what helped us win tonight.”

Keith said his team was terrific Friday night and showed a lot of that Bulldog heart the older players would be proud of.

Bello said after his big game his teammates knew what was at stake Friday and how important this game was.

“I had a dream Thursday night our defense was going to pound on these guys and our offense was going to score,” he said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”

Bello said this was a fun game to play in because of the physicality of both teams.

“They have a good defense and they have strong players but so do we,” he said.

Next up is the Cholla Chargers Friday night on what will be Mom and Dad’s night for the DHS seniors.

Keith refuses to take Cholla lightly saying this is a team that can beat you if you’re not properly prepared. The Chargers are 1-8 on the season sitting next to last in the region.

“We can’t have a hangover against those guys,” Ellsworth said. “We have to take care of business Friday then we start getting ready for the third season.”

State begins Nov. 13.

Junior varsity

Douglas’ JV’s took it on the chin last week falling 61-0 to Palo Verde’s JV’s.

The week before Douglas lost to Rio Rico 18-13.

Grant Watkins and Dylan Guerrero had TD’s that game.

Douglas led 13-6 at the half but was outscored 12-0 the second half as Rio Rico took the win.

Douglas falls to 1-6.

Freshmen

Douglas’ freshmen beat Amphi’s freshmen 35-6 Thursday.

Ozzie Moreno had a one-yard TD run in the game and Fernando Rojas caught a 40-yard TD pass from Dylan Guerrero giving Douglas a 14-0 half time lead.

Amphi ran back the opening second half kickoff for their lone score of the night.

Douglas responds with a long drive capped off by a Grant Watkins’  one-yard run in the fourth quarter making the score 21-6.

Mark Romero then followed with a 20-yard reception from Watkins and Moreno closed out with a 50-yard run.

“The offensive line did a great job blocking opening holes for our runners and our defense did a tremendous job not giving up any points,” Douglas’ freshmen coach Gilbert Rojas said.

The freshmen, 4-2, end their season this Thursday at home against Cholla.