West Side continues its dominance in rivalry with Declo despite coach’s ejection

DECLO — The battle started, as it usually does when the West Side Pirates meet the rival Declo Hornets, before the opening kickoff.

When the Pirates took the field at Declo High School Friday, waving their Jolly Roger, they sprinted straight from the end zone toward the midfield Hornet logo. But a contingent of Declo players were there to intercept them, and a brief shoving match ensued, followed by offsetting unsportsmanlike penalties.

Three plays later, Declo intercepted the Pirates again, when senior linebacker Dacx Garrard snatched a one-handed interception of the pass attempt from West Side’s sophomore quarterback Bronco Moser deep in West Side territory. And that wasn’t the only adversity the Pirates (5-0, 0-0) were forced to deal with on the road to a 21-14 road victory, with head coach Tyson Moser being ejected from the game, arguing a pass interference call late in the third quarter.

Senior tight end and linebacker Ezra Benavidez said that Moser receiving two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in a matter of seconds while arguing a defensive pass interference call against senior safety Drake Sage gave West Side a shot of adrenaline.

“That was like adding fuel to the fire. It was a spark — we were like, ‘We’ve gotta fight for him,'” Benavidez said after the game.

“That got us all pumped up on the sideline,” junior running back Mason Williams added.

As for the pre-game fireworks, Benavidez, who has been part of several similar kerfuffles between his Pirates and the Hornets (5-1, 0-0), said it has just become part of a good rivalry.

“That’s just how it’s been,” he said. “This is a huge rivalry, even though it’s not in district anymore.”

When Garrard made his leaping interception on the third play of the game, he put Declo in a great position, taking possession at the West Side 29-yard line. The Hornets, who averaged 33.4 points per game coming into the contest, looked poised to grab an early lead.

But a pair of incompletions sandwiching a run for no gain put the West Side defense in position to set an early tone. And they did so when Benavidez sacked Hornet quarterback Traecyn Thaxton for a loss of nine on fourth down.

Eleven plays later, all runs, Williams pushed across the goal line for the opening score.

West Side made it 8-0 with a successful two-point try after Declo jumped offside on an extra point try.

The Pirates pushed their lead to 14-0 when Benavidez scored on a 54-yard catch and run, which he said was the longest scoring play of his life.

“I didn’t know if someone was behind me or not, so I just kept running as fast as I could. It was fun,” he said.

After the game, Benavidez, who anchors West Side’s defense from his end position, said that his team’s defensive focus was to stop the Hornet rushing attack with “intensity and physicality” and to force turnovers.

“We did really good with the turnovers,” he added.

For three quarters, the Pirates did stop the run — and the pass. And they did force turnovers, recording two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

Declo went into the half trailing 14-0, and had compiled just 40 yards of offense.

Then, just when the Hornet offense began to sting West Side a bit, Declo benefitted from a pass interference call against the Pirates — one Tyson Moser did not agree with. While the referees were matching off the 15-yard penalty, another flag was thrown from the sideline, with Moser called for unsportsmanlike conduct. And before the ball was put back into play, Moser was called for a second unsportsmanlike penalty and was ejected from the game.

Three plays later, Declo was in the end zone for its first score of the game.

Thaxton, who entered the game having thrown nine touchdowns in five games, tossed his 10th of the year in the fourth, but not until after Sage scored his own touchdown.

With just over five minutes left in the game, Declo forced a West Side punt and had the opportunity to tie the game. But the Pirate defense again rose to the occasion and stopped the Hornets on fourth down.

Williams, who finished the night with six rushes of 10 yards or more, helped West Side bleed the remaining clock.

With Declo clearly emphasizing its efforts to slow Sage, Williams was huge for the Pirates. He finished with 119 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.

Sage, who was successfully hemmed in by the Hornet defense most of the night, still ripped off a few big plays and finished with 99 yards and one score on 26 totes.

Thaxton, who was better in the second half than he was in the first, never really got going. Under immense pressure all night, and sacked three times, the junior completed nine of 24 pass attempts for 108 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted twice.

The Pirates will be back in action next Friday, when they visit the Soda Springs Cardinals (2-3, 0-1) to open conference play.