The 2004 Pilgrim's Pride Bowl Classic

Pima Community College Defeats Kilgore College in Inaugural Pilgrim's Pride Bowl Classic

Mount Pleasant Independent School District
Public Information Office
Phone: (903) 575-2096 Fax: (903) 575-2085
Contact: Judi Saxton

Pima Comes From Behind to Beat Kilgore 10-7

The Pima Community College Storm never gave up and persistence paid off in the end.

With just over 3 minutes to go in the 4th quarter, Brian Hernandez hauled in a 21-yard pass from Royal Gill and the 13th-ranked Pima Storm upset the 3rd ranked Kilgore College Rangers in the inaugural Pilgrim's Pride Bowl Classic at Sam Parker Field Saturday, December 4.

Pima ends the season with a 9-3 record. Kilgore, the champion of the Southwest Junior College Football Conference, ends the year with a 10-2 record.

Pima coach Jeff Scurran, who announced back in September that he would step down as head football coach at the school, finishes his 4-year run with the Storm with a victory that nearly left the 332-year veteran of the coaching profession speechless.

"Anyone who knows me will find this hard to believe, but I don't know what to say," Scurran said. "I can tell you that we beat a great football team today, though."

Pima trailed 7-0 early in the game after giving up a touchdown to the Rangers early in the first quarter. Brian Jones made it 7-3 on the first play of the second quarter with a 30-yard field goal and neither team threatened for the rest of the half.

In the second half, Kilgore had several chances to score but couldn't turn them into points on the scoreboard. They missed one field goal, had another blocked and fumbled the ball as a runner headed into the end zone for a sure touchdown. The Storm was finally able to capitalize on those mistakes.

Pima forced a Kilgore punt with just over 5 minutes to play when Greg Webb sacked the Rangers' Cole Kristynik for a seven yards loss on a third-and-14. Pima took over on its own 27-yard line.

Gill and Hernandez hooked up on a 19-yard completion on first down, and then Gill hit Bobby Pond on a screen-play that covered 11 yards. Tailback Quinton Bellamy tacked on 14 yards in two runs before Demond Williams picked up eight yards down to the Kilgore 29-yard line.

On the next play, Hernandez beat a pair of Kilgore defenders and caught a perfect strike from Gill at the goal line for a touchdown and the first Pima lead of the day. Jones added the extra point and the Storm led 10-7 with 3:21 remaining in the game.

Kilgore gained just six yards on its next series and, with two timeouts remaining, punted the ball to Pima with 2:16 showing on the clock.

After runs of one and five yards by Bellamy forced Kilgore to take its remaining timeouts, Williams picked up seven yards on a third-and-six. That allowed Gill to kneel twice and run the clock out.

"I told the kids to just keep me close in the fourth quarter and we would win it," Scurran told the Longview (Texas) News Journal. "We had about three plays we were holding on to until the fourth quarter. Everyone wanted to run them, but I knew we could run them in the fourth quarter if we could just keep it close. That's what 32 years of coaching does for you, but you also have to have the team to do it."

Bellamy credits teamwork for the win.

"At halftime, our defensive coordinator told me of we could just score, the defense would hold them," he told the press. "I went to the offensive guys and told them what the defense said... it was a team effort."

Kilgore took its opening drive 68 yards in four plays to put a quick touchdown on the board. Eric Hatchett picked up four yards on the first play of the game, then Kristynik hit Justin Huff for a 45-yard completion to the Pima 19-yard line. Hatchett moved the ball another three yards to the 16 and, on the next play, Kristynik hit Damian Atkins in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown. Ben Magouryk added the extra point to give Kilgore a 7-0 lead, and its only score of the game.

Pima's Hernandez finished the day with five catches for 65 yards and one touchdown. Gill was 17 of 27 through the air for 154 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Bellamy carried 17 times for 149 yards and caught five passes for 39 yards. He was named the game's most valuable offensive player.

"It's a dream come true," Bellamy said. "We said to ourselves that the team with the most momentum was going to win. When we came out at halftime, we clearly had that. We've been preparing for three weeks for this game and we were fortunate to have guys come back from injuries and contribute."

Kilgore's Marvin White earned the game's most valuable defensive player with nine tackles and a forced fumble.

"It's a great start for a wonderful tradition," Kilgore head coach Jim Rieves said. "Pima has a great football team and they just made great adjustments at halftime and did what it took to win."

Pilgrim's Pride Bowl Classic

Pima (Ariz.) 10, Kilgore 7 At Sam Parker Field, Mount Pleasant

Pima 0 3 0 7 - 10 Kilgore 7 0 0 0 - 7

First Quarter KC - Damion Atkins 16 pass from Cole Kristynik, Ben Magouryk kick, 12:56

Second Quarter PIM - FG Brad Jones 30, 14:55

Fourth Quarter PIM - Brian Hernandez 21 pass from Royal Gill, Jones kick, 3:21

EST.ATT. - 5,500.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING - Pima: Quinton Bellamy 26-152, Michael Smith 3-24, Demond Williams 2-7, Justin Sowell 2-6, Royal Gill 4-(-20), Team 3-(-23). Kilgore: Eric Hatchett 16-123, Evans Gordon 7-49, Justin Hardman 9-30, Chris James 1-4, Cole Kristynik 5-(-22).

PASSING - Pima: Gill 17-28-1-154 Kilgore: Kristynik 8-17-1-84, Justin Huff 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING - Pima: Brian Hernandez 5-74, Bellamy 5-39, Terry Larson 4-15, Bobby Pond 3-26. Kilgore: Damion Atkins 4-39, Huff 1-44, Ernie Bernal 1-1, Quinta Becks 1-0, Gordon 1-0.