SNOW DEFENDS RANKING
by Gary Chidester

Badgers Come From Behind For 20-17 Win

Snow College trailed the Glendale Gauchos for more than a half, but there was never a sense of worry or panic before coming from behind in the 20-17 Badger win Saturday night in Glendale, Az.

Credit the coaching staff and the players. It would've been easy to feel desperation trailing 10-0 in the third quarter against a team that had beaten you the last two years and hadn't allowed you to get a sniff of the endzone in the game at hand.

Instead the Badgers took advantage of every opportunity they were given. Trailing 7-0 nothing at the half Snow College had already dodged a bullet or two. Gavin Jones made an interception in the endzone to prevent trailing 14-0 at the half.

"We had some big plays," said Head Coach Steve Coburn. "The players made plays when they had the chance to keep us in the game and also to put it away at the end."

Much of the first half seemed to be played on the badger side of the 50 yard line, but it was when the Gauchos had their backs to the wall that things started to happen positively. Glendale started deep in their own end of the field and drove the ball the length of the field to get the first score of the game.

"We just kept exchanging short drives and punts," said Coburn. "I felt good about getting better field position, but they had a good drive on us."

The Gauchos were able to rush for 105 yards against the Badger defense, but most of their success came on 235 yards passing. That success was possible because the Badgers were unable to get to the quarterback. For just the second game this season Snow College was unable to register a sack.

The Gauchos added a field goal I the third quarter before the Badgers could muster a drive that finished with a score. Cade Cooper found Colt Mund on a pass to get Snow College into the endzone, but the extra point was blocked to make it 10-6 for Glendale.

With the game on the line in the fourth quarter and facing a fourth and two the Badgers went to the air. Cooper threw it in the direction of Alex Richards, who earlier had a fourth down reception to maintain a key drive. Richards was unable to come up with the catch, but pass interference was called that gave the Badgers a first down and eventually led to the go ahead score.

"It's not too often you get a call like that on the road," said Coburn. "I think the officials did a great job on every aspect of the game. Both teams played hard. Glendale is a very good team and may be the best team we face all year. It's a great win for the Badgers."

Snow College actually scored 20 unanswered points. After trailing 10-0 the Badgers came back to score three times and take a 20-10 lead. The other score came on a 25 yard pass to Cameron Webb after Cooper scrambled to buy more time. Matt Asiata added a rushing touchdown to finish the Badgers scoring.

The defense came up with two big interceptions. The second one by Zac sharp set up one of the Badger scores. A fumble recovery on a kick-off sealed the deal for Snow College.

Asiata finished with 148 yards rushing and a touchdown. Cooper finished with 214 yards passing and two touchdowns. Devin Frischknecht had 73 yards receiving, Richards 54 yards, Colt Mund 44 and Webb 35.

The Badgers will now have two home games, the first will be against Mesa CC Saturday at 1:30pm.

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