It was a picture perfect night for Football Friday in Arapahoe as the Warriors welcomed Alma to town. A matchup that featured stark contrasts on offense as Arapahoe runs the ball and Alma likes to air it out. In this battle, it was the ground attack that prevailed as the Warriors won by a final score of 58-42.
The first eight minutes or so were a feeling out process but the Warriors were able to get on the board first on a 14 yard touchdown run by Will Shaw to make it 6-0. 19 seconds later, Alma countered with their own touchdown as Tucker Biskup ran in from 53 yards out and they converted the two point conversion to make it 8-6.
In the second quarter, the flood gates opened in terms of scoring, specifically for the Warriors. Shaw scored again for Arapahoe on a 19 yard run to make it 12-8 with 7:06 to go in the half. That drive was set up by an impressive interception by Warrior safety Trenton Roskop, as he climbed the ladder to make the play. Arapahoe again scored on a Shaw run, this time from nine yards out to make it 20-8. Then it was Shaw again, scored this time from five yards and that pushed the lead to 26-8 with 26 seconds to go before halftime.
The Warriors went into the intermission with that 26-8 lead.
In the second half the offenses kept rolling. Roskop of Arapahoe was able to run in from 35 yards at the 7:57 mark in the third to make it 32-8. Alma was able to counter with a nice drive of their own as quarterback Jakin Neal completed a six yard pass to Biskup on a short drive to cut into the deficit, 32-14.
To start the final period, Arapahoe scored on the ground again as Roskop scampered in from 22 yards to extend that lead again to 24 points at 38-14. Alma though, just kept hanging around as not even a minute later, Ryan Kermmoade ran in from 11 yards to bring the Cardinals closer at 38-20.
A few minutes later, Warrior fullback Rafe Hill was able to score from a yard out to keep their distance from Alma and make it 44-20. Following a stop on defense, the Warriors again took possession of the rock and they made it count as Shaw showed off his running ability again this time on a 38 yard run, the two point conversion was good and Arapahoe led 52-20.
But, Alma wasn't going to go away quietly. Directly following that scoring drive from Arapahoe, the Cardinals countered on a 64-yard touchdown pass from Neal to Alex Molzahn to make it 52-28 after the two-point conversion. The Cardinals then recovered an onside kick and answered again this time on a Biskup pass to Peyton Herrick from 19 yards to make it 52-36.
Arapahoe though recovered the short kick on the next drive and make quick work with the smaller field as Hill again scored on a seven yard touchdown run to make it 58-36. with 1:26 remaining in the game.
In the final minute, Alma scored on a 10 yard touchdown run from Tucker Biskup and that rounded out the scoring at 58-42.
For the Warriors, they were led by Will Shaw and his 171 yards rushing and five touchdowns. Rafe Hill had a great game to with 133 yards and two touchdowns. As a team they had 393 yards rushing.
Alma was led. by Jakin Neal as he had another big game tossing the ball around with 218 yards and two touchdowns. Tucker Biskup was effective running the ball with 112 yards and a touchdown.
Head coach of the Warriors Dustin Kronhofman liked what he saw from his team following a loss last week. "We had a lot of things domino on us last week...we had a little more intensity in practice this week and the guys didn't want that bad taste in their mouth anymore," said Kronhofman.
One of the major differences in the game was turnovers. Alma had three while the Warriors had just one.
Arapahoe moves to 3-1 and will take on Cambridge this upcoming week on the road and for Alma they fall to 3-2 and they will have a week off before battling Cambridge on September 30th at home.
