El Capitan Eagles bulldoze Water Canyon’s Wildcats to win inaugural Border Battle

Written by Nick Yamashita
August 23, 2022

ST. GEORGE — Turnovers and blown coverage proved too much for the Wildcats of Hildale’s Water Canyon High School as they lost to the Eagles of El Capitan High School, 46-6, on Friday.

The birth of a new rivalry took place as Water Canyon Wildcats and El Capitan Eagles played each other in the Border Battle, Hildale, Utah, Aug. 19, 2022 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

The inaugural Border Battle pitted the Wildcats, who are playing in their first football season, against Colorado City, Arizona’s, El Capitan High/Centennial Academy Eagles on Water Canyon’s home field. While it was considered a home game for the Wildcats, the overflow crowd represented both sides as the schools are 2.8 miles apart.

The high-energy contest saw the Wildcats start well by keeping it close in the first quarter. The Eagles scored first with a deep pass to a wide-open receiver crossing the goal line and then added another rush into the end zone for a 2-point conversion for an 8-0 advantage about halfway through the opening quarter.

However, the Wildcats found some momentum almost immediately after completing some short passes and finding an opening near the goal line. They finish it when running back Kyden Johnson punched it in for their first score of the season and the first in Hildale football history. The extra point attempt was no good, and the score stood at 8-6.

The Wildcat fans were loud in response but it would prove to be the hosts’ only points of the game. El Capitan stretched the lead to 14-6 by the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw the Eagles spread their wings and take advantage of turnovers and blown coverage in the Wildcats’ secondary to make some big plays to score another touchdown and take a 22-6 lead heading into the half.

The birth of a new rivalry took place as Water Canyon Wildcats and El Capitan Eagles played each other in the Border Battle, Hildale, Utah, Aug. 19, 2022 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

Two more third-quarter touchdowns, both off blown coverage, made it 34-6. The Wildcats would get moving, however, with downfield runs by Nick Timpson and Isaac Oliveras. But QB Dylan Horsley was intercepted to end the drive.

The Eagles took advantage and added another touchdown before the quarter’s end to up the margin to 40-6. The last touchdown saw El Capitan quarterback QB Zed White keep the ball around the left side, plowing over and through Wildcat defenders and finding the end zone.

The Wildcats had another chance to score. With 2:36 left, Water Canyon completed a short pass executed a few solid gains on the ground to reach the Eagles’ 30-yard line and momentum. But El Capitan’s defense held, and the Wildcats turned it over on downs.

Despite the lopsided score, the close-knit teams of the community shook hands, and WCHS Principal Steve Showalter presented the Border Battle trophy to the El Capitan Eagles of Colorado City, Arizona.

The captains of El Capitan Eagles receive the Border Battle trophy as they win the inaugural competition, Hildale, Utah, Aug. 19, 2022 | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News

“It feels great to win the first border battle,” Eagles first-year head coach Justin Adair said. “I’m just excited for the season. We were a little shaky in the beginning, but we came together, we pulled it off,”

The Wildcats showed some improvement, especially in the run game, led by Timpson, who carried the ball for 92 yards with a strong 7.7 yards per carry. Collin Kelsch added 52 yards.

The passing game picked up with an equal distribution by QB Horsley to Johnson, Aaron Barlow and Johnathan Timpson, who all had just over 20 yards receiving each.

The bread and butter of the Wildcats is their defense, more primarily their line and linebackers led by outside linebacker Lester Barlow, who had two sacks and nine tackles (seven solo, two assisted) with three tackles for loss. The team captain was solid on defense, constantly putting pressure on the run game of the Eagles.

Barlow and Kyler Dockstader added another 10 tackles with three for loss. On the defensive line, Domanik LaCorti added another five tackles with a very strong showing.

Special teams also had a strong showing putting the pressure on the kicker and QB White for keeping extra point attempts out of the end zone.

For the Eagles, it was all about the play of brother duo QB Zed and wide receiver Denim White, who hooked up for three TDs.

The Wildcats will have a chance to win it back as WCHS girls volleyball takes on El Capitan on Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. in Hildale.

WCHS Principal Showalter explained they have been in talks for a while to do the Border Battle contest with the El Capitan administration.

“We were trying to do something kind of fun and exciting for the community,” Showalter said. “We have such an overlapping of families and kids. They are all good friends. The idea behind it was respect, sportsmanship, friendship, community.”

El Capitan plays Superior Panthers on Sept. 2 at  7 p.m. in Superior, Arizona.

Water Canyon takes on Monument Valley on Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. in Hildale.

 

Photo Gallery

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2022, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nick Yamashita has extensive experience reporting for small town media, covering a variety of subjects and events for The Virgin River Times and The Progress in Southern Nevada. Before a career in journalism, he worked a variety of jobs in criminal justice systems. Yamashita holds a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a master's degree in interdisciplinary studies from Southern Utah University. He is an award-winning photographer and writer. He has been published in scholarly articles and poetry compilations. In his spare time, he practices and teaches martial arts.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!