Defense, special teams lead Prescott football team

The Prescott Badgers got it done with offense, defense and special teams to put last week's loss in their rearview mirror after a convincing 45-12 win over Youngker in Buckeye Friday night.

Tyler Bruso recovered a fumble in the end zone on defense, and the special teams got a boost when Chris Wright recovered a botched punt snap in the end zone and kicker Christian Fernandez connected on all five of his point-after conversions plus a 25-yard field goal.

By the time the Badgers' second string got on the field in the second half, Youngker scored touchdowns late in the third and fourth quarter to chip into a game that wasn't even as close as the score indicated.

The Badgers (2-1) were looking to rebound from last week's stinging two-point loss to Desert Edge at Bill Shepard Field. They bounced back in a well-rounded game.

Kaine Bayze, the Badgers' leading rusher this season, on his first carry of the game galloped 54 yards for a touchdown run. Later in the first quarter, with 3:39 to go, Bruso fell on a Youngker fumble in its end zone to widen the margin to 14-0 by the end of the period.

Midway through the second quarter, Wright corralled a bad snap on a Youngker punt attempt for another Badger TD.

Wright later turned around and scored on offense, this time on a 25-yard TD run to stake Prescott to a 28-0 lead with under four minutes to go in the first half. Bayze helped the scoring drive with a 28-yard run.

Fernandez made good on his field goal in the last minute of the first half to put the Badgers comfortably ahead 31-0 at the break.

While PHS hurt its own cause last week with five turnovers, on Friday the Badgers turned two Youngker first-half turnovers into 14 points.

QB Skylor Clinton tossed his first touchdown pass of the season with a 10-yard hookup to Lucas Stogsdill with six minutes left in the third period to put the Badgers ahead 38-0. Prescott coach Cody Collett took advantage of the lopsided score to get some second-string players into the game late.

Prescott's Chris Parker added a final Badger score on his two-yard TD plunge in the fourth quarter.

The Badgers are on the road again next week with a trip to the NAU Skydome to take on Flagstaff at 7:30 p.m.