Photo: 53 Frankie Jaume gets after the Lee Williams quarterback in Prescott’s 28-7 winto: 53 Frankie Jaume gets after the Lee Williams quarterback in Prescott’s 28-7 win
In a somewhat of an unusual week of local high school football, all three area teams will be traveling to face their opponents. Bradshaw Mountain gets the short trip to Cottonwood, Prescott the intermediate to Flagstaff, and Chino Valley will be on the road at least four hours to get to Window Rock.
#8 Prescott Badgers (5-1) at #19 Flagstaff Eagles (5-1), NAU Skydome, Tonight, 7 pm
This is the first meeting between the two schools in years that both teams have something riding on the table, a potential playoff berth. Flagstaff is looking to beat the Badgers for the first time in nine years. Prescott dropped a spot in the rankings from #7 to #8 from being idle last week. Flagstaff is on the outside looking in right now sitting at #19. Only the top #16 make the playoffs. A win over the Badgers would give them quite a boost, and knock the Badgers out of the top ten for sure.
Coach Mickey Clements has turned things around after the Eagles have had three consecutive losing seasons, including the last two at (2-8). Flagstaff has won four straight after dropping a game to Greenway 34-14 on September 6. In their last game they squeaked by Mingus 14-13.
Junior Chase Brown has come a long way, and is now in his third straight year as the starting quarterback. Brown has completed 57% of his passes for 1134 yards, with eight touchdowns and just three interceptions. Jadon Wetzel leads the ground game with 831 yards with an average of just under eight yards per carry. Brown has plenty of targets to throw to, and is led by sophomore AJ Valdez with 20 catches. Chase Carlson has 18, five for touchdowns. Wetzel and Aeneyas Clerry are also on the radar list.
Tuffy Callander and Garrett Degraff lead the defense averaging 15 tackles between them. Ethan Suda has 31 tackles with 10 sacks.
The Badgers had a bye week after beating Lee Williams 28-7 on October 4 to open Grand Canyon Region play.
Quarterback Uriah Tenette has completed a tick under 50% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Adam Lloyd leads the ground game with 414 yards and five touchdowns, while Tenette has 299 yards and six touchdowns.
Johann Gundermann leads all receivers with 12 catches for 382 yards and five touchdowns. Gundermann also still leads the state with a 48 yard punting average. Josiah Peoples has ten catches for 357 yards and five touchdowns. Cooper Kasun has five for 165 and two TDs. The three have a combined average of 33 yards per catch.
The defense continues to be led by sophomore Brody Hanna and his ten plus tackles per game. Cooper Kasun, Adam Lloyd, Gunnar Parra, Trace Overton and Tenette continue to be thorns to the opposing offenses. Tenette leads the team with four interceptions.
Look for this one to be a much closer contest between the two schools than in recent years. Prescott beat the Eagles 53-20 last year, and the year before that it was a 58-14 shellacking. The Badgers have won eight in a row in the series since Flagstaff won 36-6 at NAU in 2015.
#13 Bradshaw Mountain Bears (4-2) at Mingus Marauders (1-5), Friday, 7 pm
Bradshaw Mountain is looking to keep building on that momentum after starting the season with two losses.
The Marauders have dropped two in a row after a 39-7 road win at Copper Canyon. Mingus came up a point short last week versus Flagstaff 14-13.
The Bears have won four straight and will look to make it five after coming back to beat Coconino 27-20 two weeks ago. They have slowly moved up in the rankings and are at #13 this week.
Last season Bradshaw Mountain beat Mingus 34-7 in Prescott Valley. Mingus does seem improved although not enough to get past the Bears.
Chino Valley Cougars (2-5) at Window Rock Fighting Scouts (1-6), Friday, 7 pm
Just what the doctor ordered is how this week may pan out for the Cougars. This could very well be a rewarding road trip for Chino Valley after dropping their last four games. The last two weeks they were shutout on the road by a combined 100-0 to Mohave and Kingman.
Window Rock has been shutout the last three games and outscored 160-0. So something will have to give. Recent history should perk up Chino Valley.
Last season the Cougars won 34-12 in Chino Valley.
AIA 4A DIVISION RANKINGS
1 Snowflake 6-0
2 AZ College Prep 5-1
3 Yuma Catholic 6-1
4 Arcadia 6-0
5 Thunderbird 6-1
6 Mica Mountain 6-0
7 Northwest Christian 6-1
8 Prescott 5-1
9 Seton Catholic Prep 5-2
10 Walden Grove 4-2
11 Deer Valley 7-0
12 Vista Grande 5-2
13 Bradshaw Mountain 4-2
14 Canyon Del Oro 4-2
15 Combs 5-1
16 Coconino 3-3
17 Independence 5-2
18 Estrella Foothills 5-2
19 Flagstaff 5-1
20 Eastmark 3-4
