Fresh off a historic victory, the Yuma High School football team now faces its biggest challenge of the season, Friday night at home.
The Outlaws rallied from a 14-point deficit with 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for a huge Homecoming win over the Holyoke Dragons, 28-22, last Saturday afternoon.
Now Yuma football’s ancient rival, the Wray Eagles, visit for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday.
Wray has been running roughshod over opponents in 2024, sitting at 7-0 overall and 3-0 in the North Central Conference. The Eagles are No. 2 in the Class 1A CHSAA Seeding & Selection Index. They pounded perennial power Limon 42-7 last Friday. They have scored at least 42 points in six of their seven games, the exception being a 28-0 win at Brush.
Samuel Meisner has rushed for 835 yards and 15 touchdowns. Casey Midcap has run for 585 and 10 scores, while also passing for 759 yards, 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Aaron Tena leads in receptions with 19 for 346 yards and five touchdowns.
Yuma now is 4-3 overall, and likely secured a postseason berth with two games left, ending the regular season next week when Limon comes to town.
Besides Wray, the North Central appears to be extremely balanced. Wiggins is 2-1 in conference play after an 8-7 win at rain-soaked Burlington last Friday. Limon is 1-2 in the NCC, having lost two straight, including 20-17 at home to Holyoke two weeks ago. Yuma, Holyoke and Burlington also are each 1-2 in the NCC.
Besides the Yuma County Showdown for the Harvest Cup, Limon hosts Burlington on Friday, and Holyoke hosts Wiggins.
Limon is No. 4 in the 1A Index, Wiggins No. 5, Burlington No. 10, Yuma No. 13 and Holyoke No. 14.
It is possible last Saturday was the first time in roughly at least four decades that Yuma football rallied from a deficit of at least two touchdowns for the win, particularly entering the fourth quarter.
The Outlaws avoided a three-game losing streak by doing so, and have a shot at finishing the regular season with a winning record.
The Thomson brothers — senior Jonathan and sophomore Christian — grabbed the highlights, but it was a gutsy all-around team effort, with everyone stepping up one way or another.
The blocking finally wore down the Dragons as the Outlaws finished with 379 rushing yards and four touchdowns, averaging 7.4 yards per rush. Holyoke had 128 rushing yards, but also added 176 through the air.
J. Thomson ran for 217 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, C. Thomson 74 yards and two TDs on six carries, Daden Beauprez 46 yards on 10 carries, Adrian Carranza 18 yards on two carries, and Marvin Duarte 12 yards on four attempts.
It was a perfect Saturday afternoon for football, with overcast skies and a high in the mid-50s with little wind.
Both teams squandered opportunities in the first quarter, including Yuma driving to the Holyoke 29-yard line, only to see a penalty kill the possession.
The Dragons then got their run game going, driving 69 yards capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from Colby Weber to Reid Sprague. The extra-point was good, and Holyoke led 7-0 with 3 minutes, 36 seconds left in the second quarter.
However, Yuma answered with its own long scoring drive. The Outlaws converted a couple of third downs to get to the Dragons’ 36. C. Thomson then took the pitch on a sweep to the right side, cutting between some excellent blocking and running hard to the end zone. J. Thomson ran in the 2-point conversion, and Yuma led 8-7.
Everyone enjoyed a fun Homecoming halftime.
The third quarter, though, could not have gone much worse for the Outlaws.
Holyoke marched downfield on its first possession, capped by Weber’s 3-yard TD pass to Sprague. Weber ran in the 2-point conversion for a 15-8 Holyoke lead.
J. Thomson then was caught running too straight-up on the ensuing kickoff, losing a fumble at the Yuma 31. The Outlaws dodged a bullet when C. Thomson intercepted a tipped pass at the 2-yard line. Yuma could not move the ball, and had to punt from its end zone.
J. Thomson got off a great punt to the Yuma 46-yard line. However, the Dragons broke through with Weber’s 29-yard touchdown run. The extra point made it 22-8 with 2:03 left in the third.
It was looking like it would be a sad Homecoming for the Outlaws.
However, the coaching staff and players did not panic, sticking with what they do best — pound the ball on the ground.
Yuma took over on its own 16, and immediately began moving the ball. A nice run by Carranza helped the Outlaws reach the Holyoke 46 before the end of the third. J. Thomson broke off a run to the Holyoke 28. Two plays later, C. Thomson again took a pitch on a sweep to the right and sprinted 23 yards to the end zone. J. Thomson bulled his way in for the 2-point conversion, and the Outlaws trailed 22-16 with 9:59 left.
The Dragons drove to midfield, but the Yuma defense forced a punt, with Yuma taking over on its own 20-yard line.
Two plays later, J. Thomson embarked upon one of the toughest TD runs one will see. Thanks to good blocking again, he found the edge and reached the secondary. He was engaged by defensive back Gustavo Goytia. The two battled for about 15 yards, with Thomson stiff-arming Goytia, and Goytia trying to grab on to any part of Thomson.
Thomson finally broke free, cut to the middle of the field, and outran the pursuing Holyoke defenders for a 75-yard touchdown run.
The 2-point run was stopped just short, but the teams were tied at 22 with 6:17 left.
Yuma had it all going on by then. Holyoke called a timeout before trying a pass on a third-and-13. C. Thomson again came up with an interception at the Holyoke 47 with 2:35 left.
It seemed almost inevitable at that point. J. Thomson broke off some big runs, leading to his 3-yard TD run with 26 seconds left.
Holyoke could not come up with a miracle play on its last possession, and Yuma celebrated a most memorable Homecoming win.
Defensively, C. Thomson came up with the two interceptions, but it was a great effort from everyone on the field trying to contain Holyoke’s speedy passing game. Duarte was in on eight total tackles, and had two tackles for a loss. J. Thomson was in on seven, David Covarrubias seven, including one for a loss, Iann Duran six, Jesus Gordo four, Reyli Trejo four, Carranza three, C. Thomson three, Giovanni Segura three, Lief Sims three, James Brandner two, and Beauprez, Ethan Nadow, David Gaytan, Christian Munoz and Paulo Trujillo one each.