Alamosa – Sophomore running back Garrett Wilson rushed for three touchdowns in the second quarter, and nearly 250 yards for the game, in powering the Florence Huskies past the Alamosa Mean Moose 26-12 in their Class 3A semifinal game Saturday at windy Al Bennett Field.
Florence, the Southern Conference champion, advanced to the 3A title game at defending state champion Rifle on Saturday.
Florence and Alamosa squared off in a defensive struggle throughout a scoreless first quarter, with wind that gusted to 30 mph causing problems for a Mean Moose passing game led by quarterback Clay Garcia.
Florence forced a fumble on a completed pass at the Alamosa 35 on the second play of the game. But the Mean Moose defense stopped the Huskies on fourth-and-8. Alamosa had two of its three first-half first downs on the ensuing drive that was slowed by a Mean Moose penalty on a 12-yard pass completion, then halted by an interception by Florence’s James Fitz.
Wilson’s 80-yard scoring run helped Florence explode for 26 points in the second quarter, and the Huskies took a 26-0 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We were facing a great defense, and we had done what we intended in the first half,” said Florence coach Mark Buderus, whose team is 12-1. “The wind helped us. That first score (of the game) got us going, and we had good field position. We knew we were going to have to control the ball.”
That they did. The Huskies proceeded to run 9 minutes, 52 seconds off the clock on the opening possession of the third quarter. Alamosa (9-4) finally stopped the 54-yard drive on a fourth-down pass, but the damage had been done.
“We did a great job of controlling the football in the third quarter,” Buderus said. “We didn’t get any points out of it, but it put (Alamosa) back. Wilson did a ton of work for us today. He made a bunch of third-and-3s and first downs.”
Alamosa scored in the fourth quarter on two solid drives. Sonny Yohn scored the Mean Moose’s first touchdown on a 3-yard run that was set up by a 47-yard pass from Garcia to Lane Wasinger. Then, when the Huskies committed their only turnover of the game, a fumble, Alamosa struck again with Garcia passing to Jason Espinoza for a 21-yard touchdown.
Florence ran out the game’s final 3:25, with Wilson getting seven of his team’s nine carries in that stretch.
The Alamosa coaching staff expressed pride in the Mean Moose’s refusal to surrender.
“We couldn’t be more proud of the way our guys stayed in it and came back,” Alamosa defensive coordinator Al Ford said.
Florence 0 26 0 0 – 26
Alamosa 0 0 0 12 – 12
F – Wilson 9 run (kick blocked). F – Wilson 1 run (run failed). F – Wilson 80 run (Young kick). F – Ridgeway 3 run (Young kick). A – Yohn 3 run (kick blocked). A – Espinoza 21 pass from Garcia (pass failed).
