BADGERS LOSE HEARTBREAKER TO
EASTERN ARIZONA 20-25
by Gary Chidester

Badgers Lose First Of The Season

It's never fun to lose unless it's a few pounds around the middle. It's especially hard to swallow when it happens on the road as it did Saturday 25-20 to the Gila Monsters of Eastern Az.

Everyone knew that playing in Thatcher would be a challenge no matter what the record of the Gila Monsters would be at the time of the meeting. The Badgers came into town with their newly bestowed number one ranking and that just gave Eastern more incentive to knock off Snow College. The Badgers came into town once before with a number two ranking and left with a spanking.

Although the Badgers lost it was the way they lost that has left a bitter taste in their mouths. Snow College trailed the entire game and had battled back to trail by just five when the Badgers recovered a Gila Monster fumble only to have it taken away by an "inadvertent whistle" call that forced the Badgers to re-kick.

In a loss their are still some amazing numbers. Cade Cooper threw for over 200 yards and continues to be one of the leaders in the NJCAA. Matt Asiata ran for nearly 200 yards and is another Division One prospect that has a bright future.

There are plenty of "reasons" that Snow College coaches, players and fans will be replaying this game over and over for years to come. For those that are glass empty people; bad calls, missed plays, and turnovers will be scrutinized until everyone is sick to their stomachs about the one that got away or the one that knocked us out of the National Championship.

For the glass is half full fans there are still two more games remaining in the regular season and a bowl bid to the Zions Bank Top Of The Mountains Bowl in December. Nothing can be done about the game last week except to learn from the loss and move on to finish the season strong. The Badgers fini9sh their home schedule this week for homecoming against Arizona Western.

The Snow College games can be heard locally on KMTI-Am 650 and right here on SnowBadgers.com