Wolves top Trailblazers despite sloppy play

Most coaches would be pleased with a 35-point blowout victory, but Basic coach Jeff Cahill was anything but after the Wolves blasted host Durango 54-19 on Saturday.

“We were a little bit sloppy,” Cahill said. “We didn’t play our best. I think the kids were looking ahead to next week, but we have to play a lot better to beat Green Valley. The Henderson Bowl is a big deal, and the kids were all excited about that. This game was kind of like one we just have to get past it.”

Despite looking ahead to Thursday’s Henderson Bowl, the Wolves (3-2) took care of the Trailblazers (1-3) early, jumping out to a 19-0 first-half lead on touchdown runs by Aeneas McAllister, John Funaki and Sean White.

However, the Wolves missed two extra points — one when a player was late getting on the field, which lead to a 5-yard illegal procedure penalty and a blocked kick.

Durango was able to capitalize on another special teams lapse when Leontre Austin returned a kickoff 95 yards to cut Basic’s lead to 19-6. The Wolves were able to answer that score when White scored on a 4-yard run to push the lead to 26-6 at halftime.

In the second half, D. J. Thomas scored on a 7-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 33-6. However, Durango quarterback Jonathan Schofield ran 67 yards for a score to make it 33-13.

“We need to work on special teams, defense, offense, the whole deal,” Cahill said. “We need to work on everything if we are going to compete next week.”

Basic’s running game took over the rest of the way as Reggie Upshaw and McAllister scored rushing touchdowns to push the lead to 47-13. Josh Villaros rounded out the scoring for the Wolves when he returned a kickoff 76 yards for the final score of the game.

White led the way for the Wolves, rushing for 105 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. Basic pounded out 315 yards rushing and seven touchdowns.

“The running game got going in the second half, so we were happy about that,” Cahill said. “But we got to tighten things up if we are going to compete. We just have to have more discipline and do things the right way – the way we are taught – and we should be fine moving forward.”

Durango’s final score came on a 34-yard run by Jayson Johnson.

The game was slowed down for two long delays. Durango’s Luis Paulino was injured after he caught a 4-yard pass. An ambulance was called to transport him to a local hospital. Paulino was able to move his legs and was conscious. There was another 20-minute delay when the stadium lights went out after the first play of the second half.