Williams News Logo
Grand Canyon News Logo

Trusted local news leader for Williams AZ and the Grand Canyon

Vikes charge at Mogollon
Team ready for crucial Joe City game in 2 weeks

The Williams Vikings played a close game against Mogollon Sept. 7. The home game proved to be an exciting win for the Vikings, who will face off against Northwest Christian this Friday night.

The Williams Vikings played a close game against Mogollon Sept. 7. The home game proved to be an exciting win for the Vikings, who will face off against Northwest Christian this Friday night.

The Vikings junior varsity (JV) played Mogollon Sept. 4 in a prelude to the varsity team's match up against Mogollon Sept. 7 at Williams High School (WHS). The JV Vikes scored the first win for the football program against Mogollon, according to WHS Coach Phillip Echeverria. The JV took a tight win against the Mogollon JV team, with a final score of Williams 14, Mogollon 12.

"That was a big win for our program," Echeverria said. "It brought some excitement, I think, back into our entire program. We had a good week of practice and then had Mogollon Friday night."

The Vikes played an exciting match at home the evening of Sept. 7. A few sprinkles fell from the clouds overhead, though the weather was nothing to deter the Vikes from their goal. The Vikings played a strong defense against Mogollon throughout the game, though Echeverria said the team really poured on the effort in the second half of play. At the half the score for the game was Williams 8, Mogollon 12.

"We didn't give up a touchdown in the second half," he said. "We made some adjustments at half time (and) I think the kids recognized those and they fought hard."

The Vikings took the lead late in the game, making the game 16-12 Williams, with roughly a minute and a half left to play.

"We gave up some yards, but when they got down there close to our end zone, we came up with some crucial plays that held them and gave us the victory. Basically both teams scored twice and we made both our extra points and we stopped them at both of their attempts at their extra points, so that gave us the victory," Echeverria said. "It's the first game that we've been down going in at half time. We made some adjustments offensively and made some defensively."

By the end of the game, Williams took the win with a final score of Williams 16, Mogollon 12.

"We turned the ball over. I think we threw two interceptions and had two fumbles in the first half, so we kind of hurt ourselves early. In the second half we controlled the ball much better and did better. We just couldn't put a scoring drive together until late in the game. Trevor Parenteau ran a sweet pass that we threw back to Michael Pettit. Trevor made a great throw and Michael made a good catch and a better run to get into the end zone. Our first touchdown was a pass from Michael Pettit to Enzo Clapper and then Trevor Parenteau ran in the extra point. On the second touchdown the pass was from Trevor Parenteau to Michael Pettit and Enzo Clapper caught the extra point from Trevor Parenteau again."

Controlling Destiny

"It's a huge win for us. Alex Ruiz, Trevor Parenteau, our line backers inside do an outstanding job," Echeverria said. "It puts us in control of our own destiny where, if we can beat Joe City at homecoming and also take care of Ash Fork and Fredonia, we'll most likely win the region championship - with Joe City defeating Orme last week. The Joe City game will be the biggest game of the year and that's in two weeks from now. We have two weeks to prepare for Joe City. We have two non-conference games."

The Vikes play at home again this week when they take on Northwest Christian. The varsity game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at WHS. The JV team played Joe City's JV away Sept. 11.

"They're a 2A program, a very good 2A program," Echeverria said of Northwest Christian. "We'll play eight-man offense and 11-man defense for them, so it'll be a different game. We just couldn't find an eight man to play, so we picked up Northwest Christian. The week after Northwest Christian we play North Point. That'll be an 11-man game for us. That's down in Phoenix. It gives us an opportunity to work on some things and try and improve."


Donate Report a Typo Contact