Football Preview: Basha Bears vs. Saguaro Sabercats
The Basha Bears will face off against the Saguaro Sabercats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both might be coming in a bit winded given how much these teams ran up and down the field in their prior games.
Last Friday, Basha took their matchup at home with ease, bagging a 47-3 win over Mesa. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona football rankings (they are ranked third, while the Jackrabbits are ranked 43rd), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Noah Roberts and Broderick Vehrs were among the main playmakers for Basha as the former rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries and the latter threw for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Roberts got the majority of those rushing yards when he took off on a run and that went for an incredible 80 yards. Another back making a difference was Isaiah Mclver, who gained 84 total yards and a touchdown.
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Basha was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 359 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since was before the start of last season.
Meanwhile, Saguaro had to suffer through a 57-27 loss at the hands of Mountain View. The Sabercats were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 50-21.
Despite the defeat, Saguaro saw an underclassman step up: Zealand Danielson threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 32 yards and a touchdown. A healthy portion of that aerial production (100 yards to be exact) went to Mason Whitaker.
Saguaro's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Kydel Stone and Jaydon Wiseman. Wiseman also put in work on the defensive side of the ball, making four total tackles and defending a pass in addition to snagging an interception.
Basha pushed their record up to 2-0 with that victory, which was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season. As for Saguaro, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 0-2.
Basha didn't have too much breathing room in their match against Saguaro when the teams last played back in September of 2023, but they still walked away with a 35-31 win. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Saguaro's Mason Bray, who threw for 186 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 75 yards on only eight carries. Now that he won't be playing on Friday, will it be easier for Basha to walk away with another win? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
