In a battle that seemed to favor the Arizona Western Matadors, the SCC Fighting Artichokes ran out surprise winners in Yuma.

The Artichokes shut out the Matadors 21-0 on Saturday night. This is the Artichokes’ first shutout win in over a year. The new-look Artichokes came into the game motivated. Unrelenting in their intensity, coach Doug Madoski’s troops moved the ball downfield consistently. One of those players that helped move the ball down the field was wide receiver Shaquan Curenton, who made extra efforts on the field and was often targeted by quarterback Tyler Bruggman.

“We just wanted to come out and set the tone early and make sure we do the right things offensively and defensively,” Curenton said.

The freshman-laden offensive line did very well for their first game. The Artichokes’ run game was good as well, as tailback Armond Weh-Weh pounded through the secondary to gain yards with the o-line clearing his way.  To come out and beat the Matadors in their house as a new unit is very impressive, especially considering the Matadors beat the Artichokes twice last season.

“There’s something to be said about when you lose the first one and the testament of the football team to be able to respond to that loss,” Madoski said. “The concern now is to keep these guys level-headed because there’s still a lot of football to play and a lot of really good teams to play.”

Some scuffles arose in the game after plays with the bitter rivalry, but the Artichokes kept their composure as the Matadors kept looking to fight. The Matadors became feisty after plays due to frustration with the Artichokes’ overwhelming defense. The Artichokes’ defense kept the Matadors away from the end zone and applied a massive amount of pressure to quarterback Trenton Hosick. The defensive line received four sacks from sophomore defensive lineman Kisima Jagne.

“Everybody said that we were supposed to lay a goose egg,” Jagne said. “We had almost ten sacks and played better then everyone expected us to.”

The secondary was solid as well. They had good coverage of the receivers and tackled well. The linebackers were great, as they kept the run game for the Matadors quiet in preserving the impressive shutout victory.

The Artichokes’ next game will be at home against Glendale Community College on Sept. 12.