EPHRAIM — No. 12 Snow College (6-2, 5-1) couldn't stay unbeaten in conference play as they lost to No. 7 Arizona Western (7-1, 4-1) Saturday 34-13.
Snow College was 1-for-10 on third down conversions, compared to 12-for-15 for Arizona Western. The Matadors only had to punt the ball once and were able to drive down the field for a score almost every time.
"They had a backup quarterback (Boomer Green) in that we didn't really prepare for," said defensive coordinator Justin Decol. "We struggled with him."
Western Arizona had the lead 20-10 at the beginning of the fourth quarter and the defense forced a third and 24 situation for Western Arizona. Snow watched Green scramble 29 yards down the field to pick up a first down.
"It knocked the wind out of us," Decol said about the play. "We couldn't win third down and they won it every time."
Out of 71 total plays in the first half, the Snow offense only had 18 of those plays.
Snow went into halftime down 13-0, but Snow's offense responded better in the second half and outscored Western 10-7. Snow had a drive in the third quarter that went 13 plays for 72 yards which resulted in a touchdown as quarterback Adam Eastman (Hillcrest High School) connected with wide receiver Chris Morton (Uintah High School) for a 9-yard touchdown play, but for its only touchdown.
"We just couldn't do the things we were used to doing," said offensive coordinator Tyler Hughes. "We felt there were some things that we could attack and just didn't do a good job of it."
It didn't help matters that Snow was taking on the second-best rusher in the nation in Reggie Bullock, who averages 144 rushing yards per game. Bullock had a big performance as he had 27 carries for 150 yards and two rushing touchdowns. He also added five receptions for 72 yards and a touchdown.
Snow was also taking on the fourth-best defense in the nation as Western only gave up 107 yards in total offense. Western Arizona is also the top team in the nation in yards allowed per game on the ground. The Matadors held Snow's rushing game to negative 3 yards compared to Snow's average of 228.
"To their credit, they really stuffed our runners," said Hughes. "We just didn't establish any balance or rhythm early enough."
Eastman led the offense by completing 11 of his 20 passes for 110 yards and had a touchdown pass. Tight end Drew Robinson had three catches for 39 yards to add to the total.
Snow will shake off the loss as they now move into a three-way tie for the conference crown with Western Areizona and Glendale Community College. If Snow is able to win out its games it could tie for another conference championship.
"You can't stew over (the loss)," said Hughes. "We still got a lot of football left and some good opportunities."
Notes: Alex Sweat (Kearns High School) continued his strong performance as he went 2-for-2 in his field goals after going 5-for-5 last week. Sweat leads the conference in kicking in his extra points and field goals. He also is second in points per game in the conference as he averages 9.9 points per game.