Beaver Dam defenders Weston Gustaveson (41) and Nathan Vicuna (24) pursue an El Capitan ball carrier during Friday night’s season opener. The D-Backs fell to the visiting Eagles, 46-8.
It seemed like Beaver Dam’s season opener Friday against visiting El Capitan from Colorado City, AZ was jinxed even before kickoff.
The Diamondbacks struggled on the field as they couldn’t generate any rhythm on offense in falling to the Eagles, 46-8.
Beaver Dam’s problems, however, began a few days earlier.
A fertilizer used on the field ended up killing all of the grass making the Diamondbacks’ field unplayable and left BDHS athletic director Steve Feick scrambling to find an alternative.
Thankfully, neighboring Virgin Valley High School in Mesquite stepped up and allowed the game to be played at Evan Wilson Stadium.
“We’re thankful that Virgin Valley allowed us to use their field,” Feick said. “It just made me sick about our field. It’s starting to come back around. We’ve been watering every day. Hopefully, it will be playable for out next home game in two weeks.”
The D-Backs have a bye this week and are scheduled to host their Arizona rival Fredonia on Sept. 6.
After spotting El Capitan an early 2-0 lead on one of two first-half safeties, the defense got the D-Backs on the scoreboard when Cesar Soto stripped an Eagle ball carrier causing a fumble. Soto scooped up the loose ball and raced 70 yards for a touchdown.
Trailing 12-8 late in the half, the D-Backs had the ball inside the Eagle 30-yard line but an interception halted the drive. Four plays later, El Capitan scored on a 29 yard TD pass with 44 seconds remaining to go up 20-8.
The Eagles scored on a 72-yard run early in the third quarter, the first of three scores in the period. A 28-yard scoring run and a 66-yard pick-six helped El Capitan break the game open with a 40-8 advantage after three quarters.
