Aztec Bowl Team USA 15, Team Mexico 9
Dec 14, 2002
TORREON, Mexico — Scott Biglin threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Dave LaBahn to cap an 89-yard fourth quarter scoring drive that gave the United States a 15-9 come-from-behind win over Mexico in the 2002 Aztec Bowl in Torreon, Mexico, on Saturday. Dec 14, 2002
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Team Mexico
The United States also got a big performance from runningback Fred Jackson of Coe. Jackson rushed for a team-high 71 yards on the day, including a spectacular 60-yard touchdown run that opened the scoring in the first half. The Fort Worth, Texas, native also caught three passes for 24 yards, returned three punts for 19 yards and one kickoff for 31 yards. For his effort Jackson was voted the Team USA MVP.
Biglin, who was the Offensive Player the Year for Whitworth as a senior this year, was 8-for-13 on the day for 81 yards in addition to the scoring pass. The completions and attempts are both USA Aztec Bowl records. LaBahn, who played collegiately at Baldwin-Wallace, led Team USA with four receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown.
Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 6,000 at Estadio Infierno Azul in Torreon, the United States wasted little time getting on the board as Jackson took a handoff from Widener’s Mike Warker and sprinted down the sidelines in front of the Mexico bench 60 yards for the score on Team USA’s third play from scrimmage.
“I acted like I was going out of bounds then cut back upfield at the last second,” Jackson said. “Their cornerback let up just a little and gave me enough room to stay in bounds and get downfield.”
The United States threatened to score several times in the first half and even had an apparent touchdown catch by LaBahn nullified by a late holding call but the score remained 7-0 until midway through the third quarter. Mexico, on its first sustained drive against a tough U.S. defense, managed to convert a 37-yard field goal by Luis Berlanga to close the gap to 7-3.
The United States defense made that lead stand up until early in the fourth quarter when Mexico quarterback Horacio Juarez hit Juan Wong for a 32-yard scoring pass to give Mexico the lead. But St. Thomas defensive end Sean O’Leary blocked the extra point to keep Mexico’s lead at 9-7 with just under 11 minutes left to play in the game.
The scoring drive was set up following a bad snap on a USA punt attempt that sailed over the head of Muhlenberg’s Chris Reed. Reed recovered the ball and was able to get the punt away but it went out of bounds at the USA 37-yard line to set Mexico up with a short field.
Following the kickoff, Biglin and Jackson went to work on the Mexico defense as the United States chewed up more than eight minutes and drove 89 yards on 14 plays for the winning score. Team USA overcame two holding calls on the final drive, picking up a pair of first downs after being saddled with first-and-20 situations. Jackson had the biggest catch on the drive as he hauled in a swing pass from Biglin and rumbled 20 yards to the Mexico 24 on third and 16 with just over three minutes to go in the game.
Biglin finally found LaBahn in the corner of the end zone six plays later to cap the drive and then hit Adrian’s Kevin Bostelman out of the backfield on the ensuing two-point conversion to give Team USA a 15-9 lead.
On the drive, Biglin completed five of six passes for 50 yards and rushed three times for 24 yards. For the game he carried the ball six times for 40 yards.
The United States defense then made a final stand and when Bethel’s Jon Foss stripped the ball from Mexico quarterback Humberto Castellano, Concordia-Moorhead’s Derek Flann pounced on it to end Mexico’s final threat and extend Team USA’s streak to six wins in a row over Mexico.
Jackson totaled 148 all-purpose yards as a receiver, runner and return man. Other offensive stars were Sean Atkins of Bates, who carried eight times for 39 yards and Hartwick’s Ryan Soule, who returned two kickoffs for 56 yards to consistently give the U.S. good field position.
Defensively for the United States Wheaton’s Justin Knapp led the way with 10 total tackles (eight solo) to set a Team USA record. Bethel’s Jon Foss had a pair of sacks and the forced fumble that ended Mexico’s final drive. King’s Steven Wilson and O’Leary also recorded a sack each while UW-La Crosse’s Thad Rego blocked a Mexico field goal attempt. Ripon’s Travis LeRoy returned the block 30 yards. Redlands’ Jeff Thomas broke up two passes.
Scoring Summary
USA-7-0-0-8-15
Mexico-0-0-3-6-9
1st 12:28 USA - Fred Jackson 60 yd run (Chris Reed kick), 3 plays, 67 yards, TOP 0:59, USA 7 - MEX 0
3rd 05:23 MEX - Luis Berlanga 37 yd field goal, 13 plays, 43 yards, TOP 6:45, USA 7 - MEX 3
4th 10:41 MEX - Juan Wong 32 yd pass from Horacio Juarez (Luis Berlanga kick blocked), 2 plays, 37 yards, TOP 0:50, USA 7 - MEX 9
4th 2:31 USA - Dave LaBahn 11 yd pass from Scott Biglin (Kevin Bostelman pass), 14 plays, 89 yards, TOP 8:10, USA 15 - MEX 9
USA Statistics
Rushing: Fred Jackson (Coe), 9-71, 1 TD; Scott Biglin (Whitworth), 6-40; Sean Atkins (Bates), 8-39; Kevin Bostelman (Adrian), 4-26; Randal Baker (Carthage), 5-17; Mike Warker (Widener), 5-(-27). Passing: Biglin, 8-13-1, 81 yds, 1 TD; Warker, 3-11-1, 47 yds.
Receiving: Dave LaBahn (Baldwin-Wallace), 4-64, 1 TD; Jackson, 3-24; Kyle Brown (Pacific Lutheran), 1-19; Baker, 1-8; Rich Gear (Delaware Valley), 1-8; Kevin Bostelman (Adrian), 1-5.
Punting: Chris Reed (Muhlenberg), 3-36.3.
Punt Returns: Jackson, 3-19; Ryan Soule (Hartwick), 1-13.
Kickoff Returns: Soule, 2-57; Jackson, 1-31.
Total Tackles: Justin Knapp (Wheaton), 8 solo-2 assist-10; John Hauser (Wittenberg), 3-5-8; Jon Foss (Bethel), 3-2-5; Preston Meyer (Mary Hardin-Baylor), 2-2-4; Dillon Maney (Wis.-Stevens Point), 1-3-4; Jarrod Pence (Moravian), 2-1-3; George O’Brien (Frostburg St.), 2-1-3; Jamie Spielman (Wis.-Stout), 2-1-3; Sean O’Leary (St. Thomas), 1-2-3; Thad Rego (Wis.-La Crosse), 1-2-3; Lamar Askew (William Paterson), 2-0-2; Kevin Kaplan (Illinois Wesleyan), 1-1-2; Roger Snyder (Washington & Jefferson), 1-1-2; Steven Wilson (Kings), 1-1-2; Jeff Thomas (Redlands), 1-0-1; Gregg Anderson (Shenandoah), 1-0-1; Sean Atkins (Bates), 1-0-1; Derek Flann (Concordia-Moorhead), 0-1-1; Austin Bonnema (Central), 0-1-1.
Sacks: Foss, 2; Wilson 1; O’Leary 1.
Tackles for Loss: Foss, 2; Knapp, 1; Meyer, 1; Spielman, 1; O’Leary, 1; Rego, 1; Wilson, 1.