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Rocky Mountain College Athletics

Rocky Mountain College Battlin' Bears

Events and Results

Events and Results

Buell vs ACU '23
Brandon Stinson
52
Winner Rocky Mountain RMC 5-4 , 3
14
Arizona Christian (A ACU 2-8 , 1
Winner
Rocky Mountain RMC
5-4 , 3
52
Final
14
Arizona Christian (A ACU
2-8 , 1
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
RMC Rocky Mountain 14 7 21 10 52
ACU Arizona Christian (A 7 0 0 7 14

Game Recap: Football | | Brandon Stinson | Sports Information & Media Coordinator

Rocky Football Topples Arizona Christian 52-14

GLENDALE, Ariz.- Traveling with heavy hearts, Rocky Football competed in Arizona with the support of their full roster and hundreds of Battlin' Bears fans in Glendale as they defeated Arizona Christian 52-14 Saturday evening. 

The Battlin' Bears began the day forcing a three and out on the defensive end as Kaysan Barnett broke up back to back pass attempts by the Firestorm. Both teams traded three and outs before the Battlin' Bears got the ball back at midfield after an Arizona Christian punt. 

Graedyn Buell found his rhythm on Rocky's second offensive drive, finding his running back Zaire Wilcox for a 15 yard gain, then Jack Waddell on the following play for another 17 yards to put the Battlin' Bears inside the Firestorm 10 yard line. The ensuing play saw Buell keep it himself on a read option, shaking an Arizona Christian tackler, and running it into the end zone from eight yards out to give Rocky a 7-0 lead. 

Arizona Christian would capitalize on a Rocky error, recovering a muffed punt to get the ball deep inside Rocky territory. AJ Sibley would be the man to get into the end zone for the Firestorm, tying the game at 7-7 with 3:08 remaining in the first quarter. 

The mistakes for the Battlin' Bears would be minimal for the remainder of the game, as they would then rattle off 45 unanswered points. The next offensive drive would feature three consecutive completions from Graedyn Buell to DeNiro Killian Jr., before Buell capitalized the drive with a spectacular play, scrambling out of the pocket and finding Joseph Dwyer in the end zone for a cross body throw in the end zone to give Rocky a 14-7 lead as the first quarter expired. 

The next scoring play for the Battlin' Bears came on a late drive in the first half, as Graedyn Buell hurt the Firestorm on the ground with two rushes of more than 20 yards, with Zaire Wilcox helping out with tough runs alongside him as Rocky got themselves inside Arizona Christian's 15 yard line, before Buell found Matthew McGrane for a wide open touchdown reception from 10 yards out, as the Battlin' Bears took over six minutes of game clock down on a 13 play, 92 yard touchdown drive. 

Rocky received the ball to open up the second half, driving the ball down for a touchdown, as Graedyn Buell took in another zone option play for a touchdown to open up the second drive for another long 13 play, 68 yard drive. 

A three-and-out for the Firestorm led to another scoring drive, highlighted by a 37 yard catch and run by Zaire Wilcox, as Wilcox eventually punched himself from two yards out on the ground as Rocky opened up a 35-7 lead. 

The defense continued to dominate the firestorm in the second half, as Max Garcia forced a fumble on a fourth down try, giving Rocky the ball back at ACU's 25 yard line. On a third down and long, Graedyn Buell found his receiver Rodney Mike on a drag route and proceeded to run past multiple Firestorm defenders on his way for a 29 yard touchdown reception, the first of his Battlin' Bear career. 

The Battlin' Bears continued to control possession, keeping ACU without a first down in the third quarter. A stable of running backs cycled in for the Battlin' Bears, as Ben Rooney, Ja'Varien Salter, and Cade Lambert combined to bring Rocky down the field, eventually leading to a 24 yard field goal from Austin Drake. JT Allen entered the game at quarterback and he, along with his group of running backs, brought the Battlin' Bears down the field again, capitalized by the final score for the Battlin' Bears as Ben Rooney took an end around from 15 yards out to give Rocky a 52-7 lead. 

Before the Firestorm's final offensive drive that saw them reach the endzone, they were held to only eight total offensive yards in the second half. 

Graedyn Buell finished the day passing 13-of-21 for 190 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. He also ran the ball for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Zaire Wilcox finished the day as the leading rusher and receiver, with 130 yards rushing on 21 attempts and 71 yards receiving on four catches. The Rocky offense finished with 489 yards of total offense, 299 yards of it coming on the ground. 

Defensively, Cade Reynolds tallied a season high six tackles, Bridger Danielson wrapped up his first sack of his career, as 28 different Battlin' Bears recorded a tackle in a team effort that saw them holding the Firestorm to 262 yards of offense and only 4-of-14 on third downs. 

The Battlin' Bears (5-4) will return home to host MSU-Northern on Saturday, November 11th as they celebrate their graduating seniors. 
 
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