WICKENBURG — Replacing recently injured Joe Yoney Jr. at quarterback, Isac Urias didn’t skip a beat, scoring three touchdowns for No. 10-ranked Mohave in a 24-14 win over Wickenburg on Thursday night.

It is the fifth straight win for the Thunderbirds (6-2, 3-0 3A West), which trailed 14-10 late but pulled out the victory, setting up what could potentially be the region title game in two weeks against River Valley at Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse.

“I’ve used the word resilience in the last few weeks. The kids are resilient. We play good defense, we try to, we fly around the ball. We trust the scheme, we trust each other. We move guys around, and they just step up every time we move them,” longtime Mohave coach Rudy Olvera said.

Parker Whelan opened the game’s scoring with a 39-yard field goal to put Mohave up 3-0. On the ensuing kickoff, Aidan Wayas avoided several tacklers for a 75-yard return for a touchdown with 7:36 to play in the first quarter, and despite running only two offensive plays in the period, Wickenburg led 7-3.

Urias earned his first touchdown of the night to put Mohave up 10-7 with 7:34 to play in second quarter, but a blocked punt by Sawyer McClure set up a 5-yard score by Nick Formica as the Wranglers took the lead right back, 14-10.

From that point on however, Wickenburg struggled to put away the game in the second half.

“We were trying to punch it in one more time, we thought we could hold them. We played a hell of a game on both sides of the ball, special teams as well,” Wickenburg coach Ishmael MacNeil said. “Our mentality was to keep that lead, keep that clock running. Try to finish with a win.”

With 1:25 left in the game, Urias scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to give Mohave a 17-14 lead and that’s all they would need to secure the win.

“The goal is to win every night and see where we end up. We’re not going to blame injuries because it happens in football. The best thing about it is stepping up, next guy up, that’s Mohave football. The next guy must be ready to play,” Olvera said, adding that Urias is capable of big things in 2024.

“When he went in against Lee Williams, I said then when you put the ball in No. 2’s hands, we’ll be alright. He’s a hell of an athlete, hell of a human being,” Olvera said.

The senior quarterback has 12 rushing touchdowns on the season and two with his arm.

“They came to fight. They wanted this game. We came in knowing they were going to pound the ball, they were going to pack the box. They were going to do everything they could for us not to move forward,” Urias said about the Wranglers.

“We came out, started off slow, but toward the end of the game we started grinding, we started bringing each other up. It was the little things. Our line sealing gaps, it came down to the trenches. Playing as a team. We came for a fight and we got one,” Urias added.

MacNeil said he was proud of his club for fighting the way the did defensively, especially against a Mohave club that came into Thursday night’s contest averaging 34 points per game.

“They average a lot of points a game, we held our own. … That’s a hell of a team, they are consistently a good team, a playoff team. They made a deep run last year,” MacNeil said. “Our defense played their butts off and held them as much as they could.”

UP NEXT

Wickenburg (4-3, 0-2 3A West) has two of its last three games on the road starting with Yuma on Friday, Oct. 18. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

Mohave has a bye in Week 9, then faces River Valley in Week 10 at 7 p.m.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on X at @AzPreps365Brian or on Facebook at @Five2MediaWorks. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.