Marley Arel is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Barry Goldwater for AZPreps365.com

 

PHOENIX – Sophomore quarterback Hezekiah Millender threw for 5 touchdowns as the Desert Edge Scorpions defeated the Barry Goldwater Bulldogs, 65-15, Thursday night at Barry Goldwater High School.

Millender finished the game completing 10 of his 13 passes for 191 passing yards. He found teammate Vinny Mansfield twice in the endzone.

Running Back Christopher Cordero added 127 yards on the ground as well as two rushing touchdowns.

Desert Edge had a huge first half, jumping out to a 58-15 lead at halftime. The Scorpions scored touchdowns on all eight of their first-half possessions. 

Millender opened the scoring for the game, throwing a 38-yard touchdown to Mansfield on their opening drive. The Bulldogs' offense followed that up with a fumble, allowing the Scorpions to jump out to an early 14-0 lead thanks to a 20-yard rushing touchdown from Cordero. 

The Scorpions followed that drive up with a 30-yard touchdown throw to wide receiver Gavin Parks. After a turnover on downs from Barry Goldwater, Millender found Mansfield across the middle for his second touchdown of the night.

Cordero would later cut back and forth through the Bulldogs’ defense for a 58-yard rushing touchdown to put the Scorpions up 35-0 with 9:08 remaining in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs' offense then made a 65-yard drive to get themselves on the board, capping it off with a 14-yard rushing touchdown from junior running back Markhi Mckinnon.

Mckinnon would finish the game with 11 carries and 108 yards rushing. 

However, Desert Edge would score immediately on the ensuing kickoff, with Aundre Gibson taking it back 100 yards. 

It was proving to be a frustrating game for Barry Goldwater, as another special teams error on a punt during the next drive resulted in a safety. 

Tight end Dylan Carrier continued the scoring for the Scorpions, bringing in yet another touchdown pass from Millender.

Mckinnon would then provide another spark for the Bulldogs' offense, taking off for a 76-yard touchdown run using his speed to get by the Desert Edge defense.

Millender would follow that up with a dot over the coverage of Barry Goldwater, finding receiver Johnny Arvallo to make the game 58-15. 

Desert Edge slowed down in the second half, adding just one more rushing touchdown to get the final score of 65-15. 

It was a letdown of a game for Barry Goldwater, as they were coming off a 49-7 victory last week over Deer Valley.

“I’m kind of disappointed after that one, it was a long, long game and they got us pretty good,” Barry Goldwater Head Coach Frank Lautt said. “We didn’t practice real good the last couple of days, so it’s an eye opener for us to play good teams like this and if we want to get to where we want to be, that’s what we have to do.”

The players of Barry Goldwater felt similarly. 

“I’m a big self-critic of myself, so I could have done better, but we just got to better next week, practice starts tomorrow," linebacker Candido Flores said.

“We just got to work harder,” defensive back Davion Jackson said. “Keep my head up, everybody keeps their head up it’s just one loss.”

Barry Goldwater heads on the road next week to face Seton Catholic on Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.