Martin Throws Two TDs to Cotton but Pima Football Falters in Second Half vs. Eastern Arizona

It was a tail of two halves for the Pima Community College football team (2-2, 1-2 in ACCAC) on Saturday against Eastern Arizona College at Kino North Stadium.

The Aztecs took a 17-0 lead at halftime but the Gila Monsters scored 21 unanswered points in the second half in Pima's 21-17 loss. The Aztecs were coming off two straight bye weeks.

The Aztecs trailed for the first time with 2:12 left in the game and started their final drive on their own 26-yardline. Freshman quarterback Justin Martin (Pueblo HS) converted on a first-down pass to sophomore Sirgeo Hoffman for 12 yards. Then he threw a 10-yard pass to sophomore Jeff Cotton (Mountain View HS) to put them on Eastern Arizona's 40-yardline but the Aztecs were out of timeouts and time ticked away. Two plays later, Martin was sacked by Josh Holton as time expired.

The first half belonged to the Aztecs as they forced five punts and a turnover. The long ball was once again working for Martin (Pueblo HS) as he put the Aztecs on the board with a 66-yard touchdown pass to Cotton with 5:59 left in the first quarter.

The Aztecs took a 14-0 lead with 8:58 left in the second quarter when Martin found Cotton for his second touchdown reception on a 47-yard completion.

The Gila Monsters moved the ball into Pima territory on their next possession but freshman Beau Griego (Florence HS) recovered a fumble. A little over two minutes later, freshman kicker Andres Gromoll (Fountain Hills HS) hit a 37-yard field goal to make it 17-0 with 3:52 left in the half.

Cotton had one catch for 10 yards in the second half and finished the game with four catches for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Hoffman had 22 carries for 127 yards.

The Aztecs will play at Snow College next Saturday in Ephraim, UT. The game will start at 1:00 p.m. 

EAC     0     0     7     14     21
PCC     7    10    0      0      17

Justin Martin (#19) and Jeff Cotton (#1)/Photo by Ben Carbajal