Three straight for Aztecs

BARSTOW • The Axe has lived in the front display case at Barstow High School for the past two years.

Just as Barstow athletic director Vince Williams brought out the red and yellow trophy of the High Desert rivalry on Friday, Curtis Webb made sure it would stay there.

Webb scored the game-winning touchdown on a 24-yard run with about three minutes remaining in the game to seal Aztecs’ 28-14 win at Langworthy Field.

For the third straight year, the Axe will stay in Barstow.

Just moments before the Axe arrived, the Aztecs were getting stuffed and boos began to descend from the crowd. Then Barstow exploded with Webb’s touchdown. A minute later, Jerrelle Green scored after the Aztecs recovered a fumble.

“We just started picking up the tempo, picking up the pace as a team, though not as individuals,” Green said. “The O-line stepped up big time.”

Green led all rushers with 157 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Curtis had 110 yards and a touchdown on 18 rushes and his brother DaMario added 106 yards and one touchdown on seven rushes.

The game wasn’t nearly as tense early in the first quarter.

Barstow had command with a 14-0 lead early. Green scored on the first play of the game, rumbling 80 yards down the right side of the field, and DaMario Webb added a 67-yard run on the opposite side.

Barstow went for an onside kick and possibly the kill. The ball never travel 10 yards and began rolling backwards.

“We execute that great in practice,” Barstow coach Jose Rubio said. Rubio is now 2-2 in Axe Games as a player and a coach. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen that happen. We had them 14-0 and we were going for the kill. That onside kick happened, and we don’t get it, and it’s a totally different game.”

Victor Valley got the ball at the 36-yard line and needed just two plays to cut Barstow’s lead in half when Darrin Duncan grabbed a 34-yard touchdown pass from Nathan Burnaman.

The Jackrabbits nearly scored again before the end of the half. Duncan caught a 27-yard pass and a 15-yard late hit penalty put Victor Valley at the Barstow 14-yard line before Aquino Spann intercepted Burnman’s pass.

Victor Valley began to dictate play in the second half. The Jackrabbits tied the game 14-14 on their first drive and nearly took the lead on a 50-yard field goal attempt that hit the cross bar. That’s when the Aztecs began to march on their game-winning drive. Pinned at the 2-yard line, Barstow needed just seven plays before Webb scored the winning touchdown.

“The key was when we had them down at the 2, and we let them get out of trouble,” Victor Valley coach Leland Eudy said. “That gave them their momentum. We had field position, we were keeping them back in their territory but we were squandering our opportunities and in these type of game you can’t do that.”

The Axe quickly left Williams’ hands as the final buzzer sounded as Barstow players hoisted it above their heads and began parading it around the field.

Victor Valley 7 0 7 0 — 14
Barstow 14 0 0 14 — 28

First Quarter
B — Green 80 run (Peralta kick)
B — D. Webb 67 run (Peralta kick)
VV — Duncan 34 pass from Burnaman (Kepley kick)
Third Quarter
VV — Duncan 34 pass from Burnaman (Kepley kick)
Fourth Quarter
B — C. Webb 24 run (Peralta kick)
B — Green 27 run (Peralta kick)

Matthew Peters is the sports editor of the Desert Dispatch. Contact him at 256-4124 or at mpeters@desertdispatch.com.