D’backs can’t catch Colfax in 28-21 setback

Tow racks up 253 rushing yards

COLFAX — Union Mine's bid for a game-tying score late in the fourth quarter was fumbled away Friday as the Diamondbacks fell to host Colfax 28-21 in preseason football action.

Trailing by a touchdown with two minutes left, Union Mine sat at its own 40-yard line facing a fourth-and-10 after three plays went nowhere. In desperate need of a first down, quarterback Graham Bennett connected with his receiver on a catch-and-run over the middle for 31 yards before a tackle pried the ball loose. The Falcons recovered and the D'backs never saw the ball again.

"Our kids played their butts off — that's a good football team over there," Union Mine coach Dave Johnson said pointing to the Colfax sideline. "We took it down and it looked like we were going to go in (for a touchdown) but then the fumble. We made some mistakes and didn't throw the ball particularly well but it was a good effort."

Without the balance of the passing game, the D'backs attacked the Falcon defense with the ground game. Sean Tow (three touchdowns) had another big night out of back field with 253 yards rushing but Bennett hit on just 10-of-27 passes for 114 yards — the last completion putting him over the century mark — and was intercepted once.

"I just wasn't on the same page with my guys (receivers). I made poor decisions and didn't have enough touch on the ball," Bennett said. "That's probably the best team (Colfax) we'll face all year. To be down 21-7 at the half, come back and have a chance at the end and not get it done is disappointing."

Though they did a much better job in the second half, the D'backs (1-1) had trouble stopping the Falcons (3-0) in the first half — in particular running back Hunter Perez (209 yards) and quarterback Austin Perez who picked apart the Union Mine secondary.

Tow's 9-yard power run with 58 seconds left in the first quarter tied the score but accounted for the D'backs' only first-half points. Key was Colfax blowing a coverage assignment that allowed Bennett to hook up with a wide open Jeremy Hernandez for 37 yards.

Tow's 55-yard scamper on the first play of a late third-quarter possession and touches by Shane O'Leary and Kona Teixiera helped Union Mine get to the red zone where Tow took a hit in the backfield but freed himself to find the end zone from 4 yards out to make the score 21-14.

"It felt like it was a lot easier to run on them than it was against El Camino (last week) which had two linebackers key on me. Had our passing worked (more) tonight it would have made the Colfax defense more cautious," Tow said. "We thought we had it but it was the little mistakes and of course fumbling at a crucial time."

The Falcons immediately answered thanks to Young's 50-yard screen pass to Shawn Rawlins that set up Austin Perry's 10-yard touchdown run.

Two pass interference calls that brought out Colfax's boo birds aided the D'backs on their next drive. Union Mine, which played catch-up the entire evening, pulled closer when Tow took Bennett's short pass and muscled through three-to-four tackles inside the 10 to finish a 14-yard touchdown catch.

The D'backs biggest stop on defense came on the Falcon's next possession when Tyler Scott sniffed out a screen pass to drop Perez in his tracks and force a punt that gave Union Mine the ball back with plenty of time to catch Colfax.