Cactus Shadows is 1-6 against Desert Mountain since October of 2018 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Falcons will face off against the Wolves at 7:00 p.m. After the two teams made easy work of their previous opponents, one won't be so lucky on Friday.
Desert Mountain will be up against a hot Cactus Shadows team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. The Falcons took their contest on Friday with ease, bagging a 56-14 win over Paradise Valley. The final result isn't all that surprising considering the Falcons' considerable advantage in MaxPreps' Arizona football rankings (they are ranked 32nd, while the Trojans are ranked 119th).
Donivan Dixon
| 09/26/25 vs Paradise Valley | 344 |
| 09/19/25 @ Camelback | 350 |
| 09/12/25 @ Eastmark | 302 |
| 09/05/25 vs ALA - Gilbert North | 440 |
| 08/28/25 @ Desert Edge | 66 |
Donivan Dixon produced another solid performance throwing for 344 yards and five TDs while completing 82.4% of his passes. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 300.4 passing yards per game. Cactus Shadows also got help from Alex Dafnis, who showed off his sure hands for 83 receiving yards.
Wins are hard to come by when you can't run the rock, something Cactus Shadows proved: they limited Paradise Valley to a paltry 1.5 yards per carry. The team can thank Clayton Pfaff for the heroic effort on defense: he. Cactus Shadows hasn't allowed more than 5.5 yards per carry in three consecutive matchups.
Cactus Shadows' defense didn't let Aarush Behera, get away unscathed either: they got into the backfield for five sacks. Dylan Malone refused to say out of the backfield, picking up 1.5 sacks all by himself. James Wade got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Desert Mountain). They blew past Kellis, posting a 53-0 victory. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Wolves just coasted through the last quarter.
Desert Mountain's win bumped their record up to 4-1. As for Cactus Shadows, they now have a winning record of 3-2.
Cactus Shadows came up short against Desert Mountain in their previous matchup back in October of 2024, falling 35-28. Thankfully for the Falcons, Bryce Herges (who rushed for 47 yards and three touchdowns, and also threw for 181 yards and a pair of TDs) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
