Football: Seagraves spoils Molina's debut in McCamey

MCCAMEY Locked in a battle of rookie head coaches trying to get a win in their first game on the job, Ronnie Molina thought he had his McCamey players prepped to open the season.

But nothing seemed to click for the Badgers.

Led by star tailback Jirus Davis, Seagraves ran over McCamey 46-13 to give new head coach Armando Minjarez a victory in his first game on the sideline.

“This is humbling,” Molina said. “We weren’t able to deal with some of their blitzes at first, and by the time we did pick it up, our quarterback was out.”

Running a wishbone offense that physically dominated the Badgers at the point of attack, Seagraves (1-0) scored on first three drives to build a 20-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Fullback Todd Gibson punched in the first touchdown on a 5-yard plunge, and quarterback Jachee Harrell — who picked up 92 yards on nine carries and intercepted two McCamey passes — scored on a pair of quarterback sneaks.

And the Badgers (0-1) kept turning the ball over.

Trying to make something happen on the run, senior quarterback Ethan Richardson tossed a pair of first-quarter interceptions.

By the time Richardson scored on a 24-yard run midway through the second quarter, Seagraves had already taken control.

Two second-quarter touchdowns by Jirus Davis gave Seagraves a 32-7 halftime lead.

“They outmanned us,” Molina said. “And we didn’t tackle real well.”

Making matters worse, a Seagraves defender hit Richardson out-of-bounds on a late second-quarter scramble and knocked McCamey’s quarterback out of the game with a pulled hamstring.

“He cheap-shotted me five yards out of bounds,” Richardson said. “We knew they were going to play that defense the whole week, we watched film, and the line didn’t execute.”

According to Richardson, he will have to sit out one to three weeks to heal the hamstring.

Sophomore Chris Ortiz took over for Richardson in the second half.

But although Ortiz was able to lead McCamey to a score — Jonathan Dominguez scored on a 15-yard touchdown run — both of his passes were picked off.

“It surprised me,” Ortiz said. “I was nervous at first, and I’ll have to try to do better.”

Led by Davis, who finished with 200 yards rushing and two touchdowns, Seagraves racked up 436 rushing yards in the victory for Minjarez, who took over as the Eagles’ head coach a week before two-a-days began.

Former Seagraves head coach Art Ontiveroz left the team to move into administration, and Minjarez, the former defensive coordinator, made the switch right before the season began.

“We’re going to run the football, and Jirus is a big, powerful back who can pick up yards,” Minjarez said. “It feels good to get the win.”

So good Molina can’t wait to find the same feeling.

Seagraves 46, McCamey 13

Seagraves                   20  12 7                                      7  —                                    46

McCamey                            0 7                                            0 6                                          —                                          13

First Quarter

Seagraves — Todd Gibson 5 run (Miguel Nino kick), 9:19. Drive: 5 plays, 59 yards, 1:49. Key plays: Jachee Harrell 34 run on 2nd-and-2 at the Seagraves 49.

Seagraves — Harrell 1 run (Nino kick), 5:19. Drive: 7 plays, 46 yards, 3:12. Key plays: Harrell 41 run on 2nd-and-20 at the McCamey 20.

Seagraves — Harrell 1 run (run failed), 0:48. Drive: 7 plays, 42 yards, 3:17. Key plays: Abraham Wieler 20 run on first play of drive

Second Quarter

Seagraves — Jirus Davis 10 run (run failed), 11:04. Drive: 2 plays, 23 yards, 0:44.

McCamey — Ethan Richardson 24 run (Humberto Urias kick), 5:16. Drive: 2 plays, 48 yards, 0:11. Key plays: Jose Esparza 24 run on first play of drive.

Seagraves — Davis 7 run (run failed), 2:54. Drive: 4 plays, 50 yards, 1:53. Key plays: Davis 37 run on 2nd-and-5 at the 50.

Third Quarter

Seagraves — Joey Pena 4 run (Nino kick), 4:20. Drive: 3 plays, 83 yards, 1:24. Key play: Davis 77 run on 2nd-and-13 at the Seagraves 14.

Fourth Quarter

McCamey — Jonathan Dominguez 15 run (kick failed), 11:07. Drive: 4 plays, 23 yards, 1:45. Key plays: Tymon Aguilar recovers fumble on a Seagraves punt return to begin drive.

Seagraves — Todd Gibson 10 run (Nino kick), 7:06. Drive: 7 plays, 67 yards, 3:35. Key plays: Davis 21 run on 2nd-and-6 at McCamey 48.

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TEAM STATISTICS

                        Seagraves                        McCamey

First downs      16                        9

Total yards      436                        165

Rushes-yards 45-436                        39-160

Passing           0                        5

Comp-Att-Int    0-1-0                        1-10-4

Sacked-Yards Lost                        1-11                        2-7

Punt Returns    1-6                        0-0

Kickoff Returns                        2-44                        7-118

1. Punts-Avg        3-18.0                        3-32.3

Fumbles-Lost  2-1                        4-2

Penalties-Yards                        13-115                        8-65

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Seagraves

Jirus Davis 14-200, Jachee Harrell 9-92, Abraham Wieler 6-51, Todd Gibson 7-40, Brendan Gryder 9-34, Joey Pena 3-9, Hector Perez 2-6, Miguel Nino 1-4.

McCamey

Jonathan Dominguez 14-82, Jose Esparza 5-35, Ethan Richardson 7-32, Chris Ortiz 10-6, Tymon Aguilar 3-2.

PASSING

Seagraves

Jachee Harrell 0-1-0-0.

McCamey

Ethan Richardson 1-8-1-5, Chris Ortiz 0-2-2-0.

RECEIVING

Seagraves

None.

McCamey

Daniel Velez 1-5.

INTERCEPTIONS

Seagraves

Jachee Harrell 2-0, Hector Perez 2-0.

McCamey

None.