The Desert Edge 2012 season came to an end in heartbreak in the state championship game so in 2013, it has been all business to ensure they get another shot at the title.
The Scorpions rolled through their regular season in dominating fashion going a perfect 10-0.
On Friday night, it was round one of their push to return to state and bursted out of the gates to kick off their tournament run. They went up 21-0 on the 14 seeded Thunderbird Chiefs and never looked back. Ultimately winning 56-26.
“We wanted to come out offensively and get after it,” said Desert Edge coach Rich Wellbrock. “Defensively I thought we came out and played really well and got the offense the ball in a hurry and when we get into a rhythm we are pretty darn good.”
Desert Edge got after it early in large part with their passing attack. Quarterback Anthony Hernandez would throw for 413 yards and five touchdowns. He would run for a touchdown as well. His receivers Jordan Jackson and Elijah Marks were virtually un-guardable. Jackson had 190 yards and three touchdowns and Marks, who became the state record holder for receiving yards in a season in 2013, hauled in 136 yards and a score as well.
“I think we have great receivers,” mentioned Wellbrock. “It all comes down to spacing and running the proper routes at the proper depth and helping each other out.”
For Elijah [Marks], there isn’t much more to be said,” he added. “I believe he had 16 catches tonight that puts him over 100 for the year. I think he played well.”
However, coach Wellbrock wasn’t overjoyed by the win in the end. He mentioned that there were still things his team needs ti sure up as they move along in the playoffs.
“Our offense basically scored all of the points including the points for Thunderbird,” said Wellbrock. “I thought we got sloppy which gave them a little life and that got frustrating.”
Desert Edge now moves on to play the six seeded Shadow Ridge Stallions, a team they are very familiar with as this will be the fourth time they will face off in the last two seasons. The Scorpions have won the first thee.
“I am sure they are going to make adjustments,” explained Wellbrock. “They have had a great second half of the season with their only loss being to Williams Field. We know we are going to have our hands full. They are a big, physical football team and we are going to have to bring our lunch pales and get back to work tomorrow morning at eight o’clock.”
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Jared Cohen
A born and bred Arizonan, Jared has had great passion for the hometown teams all his life. He now channel's that passion into covering the pro, college and high school teams around the state as a Multimedia Reporter for Sports360AZ.