#11 Eastmark shocks #2 Walden Grove behind stout defense

On Thursday night, Eastmark defended home turf with a 16-13 win over the Sahuarita Walden Grove, a game that proved to be tough for both sides.

Eastmark and Walden Grove stuck with the run game early in the contest, and it didn’t amount to much right away.

The team that struck first in the game was the Firebirds. Eastmark put together a few plays that helped move the chains. They were able to make it all the way to Walden Grove's 30-yard line, but ultimately had to settle for three. 

'27 kicker Isaiah Helmkamp made an impressive 47-yard field goal to put Eastmark on the board first. 

At the beginning of the second quarter, Walden Grove found their first momentum boost of the game from their defense. 

'25 LB Angel Armenta ended up intercepting the Eastmark pass, reading the play and jumping in for the interception, taking it all the way for 45 yards to the endzone. Walden Grove was finally on the board and took their first lead of the game. 

A huge play from Walden Grove's defense gave the offense the momentum shift they needed to get points of their own. 

Walden Grove put together a long drive that took away a lot of the time remaining in the second quarter. Also, despite multiple penalties, they were able to enter Eastmark territory.

'27 QB Gauge Abalos connected with '27 TE Paul Delgado for a 12-yard gain to set them up at the five-yard line before '27 RB/DL Dominic Sanchez ran through defenders for a 5-yard touchdown to extend the Red Wolves' lead to 13-3 with 2:22 left in the first half. 

Then, when Eastmark needed their offense the most, they answered the call. 

Putting together a quick drive before halftime, Silver lofted a pass to '26 ATH Maximo Cano for a 69-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 13-9. 

The touchdown was exactly what Eastmark needed to light a fire under them for the rest of the game.

“We started slow, but then we were like, let's go,” Cano said regarding his team at the beginning of the game. “We realized the secondary wasn't pushing too hard, so I just took a shot. It set the tone for everything.”

The tone was set, and it continued in the second half. During Walden Grove's first drive on offense, they fumbled the ball, and Eastmark '27 DB Carson Chandler recovered it. 

Eastmark made the most out of the opportunity, as on the first play of their next drive after the fumble, '26 ATH Brent Glover scampered for 72 yards and set up Eastmark on the goal line. A few plays later, Silver found '26 WR Kyson Hunt for a 6-yard touchdown to give Eastmark a 16-13 lead, which would end up being the final score of the game.

Even though Silver didn’t have the best game of his young career, he still stepped up when his team needed it the most and led his guys in the right direction. 

“As a quarterback, you have to have that leadership, you have to have that accountability,” Silver said. “That’s the type of things that you need to do as a quarterback.”

The fourth quarter was a defensive masterclass by both teams, as each team made multiple stops and got interceptions, and didn’t allow either offense to put up more points. 

For Eastmark, Cano and Lunt each had an interception for their team. As for Walden Grove, Sanchez was the one to get the interception.

Even though it wasn’t a high-scoring win, Eastmark HC Jason Lyons said he will take wins like this any day.

“16-13’s are all I’m about, I’m just super proud of our guys,” Lyons said. “I’ll take a 16-13 (win) ten times out of ten.” 

After the win over Walden Grove, Eastmark now moves to 2-0 in the season and they hope to keep it rolling for the rest of the way.

“I feel like my team played such a good game tonight,” Lyons said. “That was the most passionate I think I've ever seen them play, and I've only coached here for 12 games now, and I can't be prouder of them.”

Next up: Eastmark hosts 5A #3 Cactus Shadows in what may be their toughest game of the season. Walden Grove returns home to host 5A Tucson.