Sand Devil football players poured Gatorade on their head coach, Ty Bennett, to celebrate his first victory as the team’s head coach after the Sand Devils defeated the Chino Valley Cougars 47-20.

The Sand Devils had several key players from last year return to action this year, including Joey Benally at quarterback, Tyree Stingley and Talon Herder at wide receiver, and Landon Mansker at running back on the offensive side, with playmakers Mannii Green and Cash Lester returning on the defensive side. Bennett had them ready Friday night for the season’s opening game.  

The Sand Devils received the opening kickoff and wasted no time marching the ball down the field. In the first sequence of downs, Benally connected a long pass to Stingley, who advanced the ball to the Cougars’ 10-yard line. A couple of plays later, Benally connected with Stingley again, this time in the corner of the end zone. The Sand Devils had their first points on the board with less than a minute off the game clock.

The Chino Valley offense answered back on its first possession, quickly finding its way to the end zone for its first score. They went for two on the PAT and were successful, taking an 8-6 lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, sophomore Kellen Cummings returned the ball to the Sand Devils’ 46-yard line, after which the Sand Devils’ second possession belonged to Shaine Begay. Benally completed a pass to Begay, who advanced the ball to the Cougars’ 33-yard line. A few plays later Benally connected with Begay again, this time for a 20-yard touchdown pass. Kicker Cole Tate put it through the uprights, giving Page a 13-8 lead with 3:15 left in the first quarter. Tate is a star player on the Sand Devils soccer team. Bennett knew him from coaching him in baseball. This year soccer has moved to winter, so Bennett asked Tate if he’d be interested in being his kicker this year. Tate kicked five extra points Friday night.

Sand Devil safety Mannii Green ended the Cougars’ second drive when he intercepted a pass on Chino Valley’s 23-yard line, which led to a second touchdown from Begay. Tate added another extra point, giving the Sand Devils 20-8 lead with 2:01 remaining in the first quarter.

Chino Valley scored again in the early minutes of the second quarter, putting together a solid drive that began at their own 39-yard line. They came up short on the PAT, making the score 20-14.

The Cougars put together another good drive on their next possession, which came down to a fourth and one in Sand Devil territory. They went for it, but their fourth-down try ended with a quarterback sack from Cash Lester. The Sand Devils’ ensuing drive ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Talon Herder. Tate added another point on the PAT.

The Sand Devils’ next drive ended with another touchdown pass from Benally to Stingley, with Tate again adding another point.

The Cougars put their final points of the night on the board with a 50-yard TD pass, making the score 34-20 after a failed PAT.

The Sand Devils offense finished the night with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Herder. Begay got the final touchdown of the night after recovering a Cougars fumble and returning it 65 yards to the end zone.

The final score read Sand Devils 47, Cougars 20.

Bennett was very happy with his team’s performance.

“Chino came ready to play,” said Bennett. “They were flying around, ready to go, but we were ready for them.  For the most part we played pretty clean football.  We didn’t have any turnovers and we got some turnovers. We won all three sides of the game: offense, defense and special teams. It was a great start to the season, and we were able to get our first-game jitters out.”

Bennett also gave his assistant coaches – Justin Smith, Chris Green, Jordan Halvorsen and Cody Ripka – a lot of credit.

 “My coaching staff was amazing,” he said. “They made the proper adjustments, and those adjustments allowed us to dominate the second half.”

The Sand Devils had several stand-out players in their opening game.

Offense

    Joey Benally: Six passing touchdowns.

    Tyree Stingley: Three receiving touchdowns.

    Talon Herder: two receiving touchdowns.

    Landon Mansker: 91 yards rushing.

    Cole Tate: Six points after touchdown

Defense

    Patrick Bennett: 5 tackles, 1 punt block, 1 pass deflection.

    Kellen Cummings: 2.5 tackles, 2 pass deflections, 1 interception.

    Mannii Green: 3.5 tackles, 1 interception.

    Cash Lester: 1 tackle for loss, 1.5 sacks.

The Offensive Player of the Week was Joey Benally. The Defensive Player of the Week was Mannii Green. The Special Teams Player of the Week was Cole Tate. The Overall Player of the Week was the offensive line, which gave up only one sack the entire game. 

The Sand Devils’ next game is in Holbrook this Friday. JV plays in Page Thursday at 7 p.m.