Campo Verde traveled a rough and tumlbe road to garner its fourth win in as many tries Friday night. Opportunies were there aplenty in the second half to overcome a 13-0 deficit the Coyotes faced to Ironwood Ridge. They left a couple of those on the table, but still had one last shot with just more than three minutes to play -- navigate 99 yards without the luxury of a passing game. That seemed an impossible feat.

Enter senior running back Matt Leazier. Leazier broke off two long runs on the winning six-play drive, including the decisive touchdown from 19 yards out as the Coyotes nipped Ironwood Ridge, 17-13, at Campo Verde High.

"It came down to it being all on him and all on our front (O-LIne)," Campo Verde coach Max Ragsdale said. "He's the Bell Cow. The run he made to get us out of the hole was tremendous. And our vertical game is challenged, but we made one play when we needed it....

"It's a heck of a win for us.," Ragsdale said. "Coach (Matt) Johnson has a heck of a program so that makes it more special."

Leazier, who entered play with 560 yards rushing, added another 195 unofficially. on 22 carries. His 37-yard run was indicative of the power and balance he possesses. It got the Coyotes from the shadow of their goal post and room to operate. Ironwood Ridge pitched in to help Campo move across midfield as the Nighthawks (1-2) were called for 12-men on the field  - a 15-yard penalty. 

And next came the only pass completion in seven tries for Campo. Quarterback Parker Nuzman and Danny McFarland connected for a 26-yard gain to the  Ironwood Ridge 19. Leazier bolted to paydirt on the next play - giving the Coyotes their only lead of the game with 1:13 left.

"We had a lot of holes to fill coming into the season," Leazier, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year, said. "I couldn't do what a I do without our line. This is a huge win for us." That line for the record is Dylan Kauer, Brok Glazewski, Trevor Lauer, Jake Leighty  and Austin Malmin.

Campo Verde's defense clamped down in the second half getting two fumbles and an interception. Defensive back Chad Roderick had the pick and ended Ironwood Ridge's last hope with under a minute left by recovering a fumble near midfield.

The first fumble recoveryearly in the third period was pounced on at the Ironwood Riidge 32 and resulted in a 35-yard field goal by Jackson Passey to get Campo on the board. 

After stopping Ironwood Ridge on downs at its 37 on its next possession, Campo drove to the Nighthawks 8 and settled for a second field goal attempt. It never came off as the snap was bobbled and the ball turned over on downs.

Campo's defense forced a three-and-out as the third quarter ended. Ironwood Ridge's attempt to punt from just inside the end zone also didn't materialize. The snap was low and not handled cleanly and the Coyotes swarmed on the punter at the 1. On the next play Campo cut the lead to 13-10 on a quarterback sneak by Nuzman with 11:51 to play. 

Campo's defense was better containing Nighthawk rushing threats Nathan Grijalva and Octavio Audry-Cobos after intermission. Grijalva finished with 121 yards rushing on 31 carries and Audry-Cobos totaled 101 on 21 rushes. The duo was limited to 85 yards total in the second half.

Ironwood Ridge did all the talking in the first half in buiidling a 13-0 lead. They controlled the ball (17 minutes to seven), used an interception to pick up three points and had twice as many plays from scrimmage as Campo Verde. Grijalva and quarterback Octavio Audry-Cobos teamed up for 137 of the Nighthawks 174 yards in the first half. Audry-Cobos scored his team's lone touchdown on a 23-yard run at the 10:54 mark of the second quarter. 

Place kicker Griffin Sauer added field goals of 30 and 35 yards to account for the rest of the opening half scoring. Campo Verde had 79 yard in the first half, all rushing and mostly by Leazier.