On Thursday, September 21st, two teams who have been rivals for as long as anyone can remember, fight over the infamous River Rock. Agua Fria had gone to Tolleson with the intent of taking back the River Rock, but Tolleson wasn’t going to give up without a fight.
With the Owls already being halfway through our football season the varsity team has shown that they didn’t come to play around this year with a season score of 3-1. You could feel the energy of the student section when walking into the stands, with each and every student hyping each other up to cheer for our team and show our Owl pride. Suspense building up in everyone as we waited for the first quarter of the game to kick off and start what we would soon find out to be a winning game for the Owls.
Agua Fria started off the game by scoring a touchdown within 10 minutes of the game putting us at 6-0. The sounds of cheers and chants erupted from the student section, with not only Agua Fria students but also parents showing their support for the team. Varsity ended the first quarter with 7-0, giving us a starting advantage in the second quarter.
Going into the second quarter, our team was able to score 3 more points. But Tolleson didn’t go easy on the Owls, racking the scoreboard with 14 points. We fought back as much as we could but it wasn’t enough to win the second quarter, as it ended 10-14 Tolleson.
Going into halftime, the team is able to have a break and regroup giving them time to come up with a new game plan on winning back the River Rock. Rolling into the third quarter the team entered the field more hyped and energized than when they had left ready to take on Tolleson once again. Determined to top Tolleson, the Owls pushed their way through the third quarter blocking the Wolverines from scoring any points while also scoring 7 points from themselves. Put Agua Fria in the lead at the end of the third quarter with a score of 14-17.
As the last quarter approaches, it puts both crowds on the edge of their seats hoping their team is the one to win and leaving the question of who will win: Agua Fria or Tolleson? The beginning of the quarter didn’t look too good for the Owls as we had only scored 1 point and Tolleson was up by 6 putting us at 21-18. With only 2 minutes left in the game, the crowd had started to feel defeated, but Varsity wasn’t going to give up. They fought tooth and nail through the remaining 2 minutes, inching their way to the endzone putting some fans on the edge of their seats and causing others to scream and yell in support and encouragement. As the time on the clock ticked down by the second the Owls did what everyone had been hoping for and brought us to victory and scored us a touchdown.
The Agua Fria Varsity Football team was able to make the school proud by ending the game with a score of 21-24. Taking back the River Rock and bridging it home to Agua Fria where it rightfully belonged allowing us to redeem ourselves from our past.
