The Sedona Red Rock High School football team finished the 2011 season strong Friday, Oct. 28, defeating the visiting Eagles, 57-28.

“It was great to see a culmination of all the work that our team put in since last October, but it was especially sweet to see the seniors go out with a win,” second-year Sedona Head Coach Rick Walsworth said.

Pinon High School came to town Friday looking to cement an 8-2 season and a Division V playoff berth but the Scorpions had other ideas, scoring 29 unanswered points in the first quarter, which led to the blowout.

At the time, Pinon held the No. 12 seed and was a sure lock to make the state playoffs if it beat Sedona, but with the loss, the Eagles dropped to No. 17, and missed the playoffs.

Only the top 16 teams go based on the Arizona Interscholastic Association power point polls, which were released Monday, Oct. 31. With Sedona’s victory over Pinon, the Scorpions wrap up the 2011 season with a 4-6 record and finish No. 20.

After a 29-0 first-quarter outburst by the Scorpions, Sedona led 50-16 heading in to halftime before Walsworth pulled many of his starters for future young stars.

In the first quarter, senior Bradley Cox caught a 44-yard touchdown pass from fellow senior quarterback Jack Johnson to begin the blowout.

Johnson completed seven of 13 passes for 272 yards and five touchdowns on the night. Junior Keenan Crans caught a touchdown from eight yards out to make it 14-0 and the rout was on.

Senior running back Ashor Samano was stellar on the ground for the Scorpions, carrying the ball 26 times for 182 yards and two touchdowns.

“The position that Ashor [Samano] plays in our offense is the workhorse position, and the better he does, the better the offense does,” Walsworth said. “Everything that we do works through our tailback.”

The Scorpions had 610 yards of total offense Friday against Pinon. Besides Samano, Cox had three catches for 147 yards and three touchdowns, all of which came in the first half.

Cox would injure his left knee in the beginning of the second quarter, but he wasn’t removed until later. Information regarding the extent of Cox’s knee injury was not available by press time.

Walsworth said the Scorpions are happy with a 4-6 season but would prefer to be playing this Friday when the Division V state playoffs begin.

Sedona lost a tough one at Williams High School on Oct. 21, 44-36. The Scorpions led the Vikings 28-15 at halftime, but they were unable to hold the lead. If Sedona won that game, the Scorpions may be playing in the state playoffs.

“We knew going into the season that the Williams game would probably be the one that would make or break our playoff chances, and in the end, it was,” Walsworth said.

“It was disappointing for me that our seniors didn’t get another week of football, and I know that I would have loved to get to coach those guys for another week.”