Football Preview: Goldwater Bulldogs vs. Willow Canyon Wildcats
Two dominant backs in Dylan Hayhurst and Joel Cooper are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Goldwater Bulldogs will face off against the Willow Canyon Wildcats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Goldwater is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 38.9 points per game this season.
Goldwater is probably headed into the match with a chip on their shoulder considering Mountain Ridge just ended the team's four-game winning streak on Friday. They came up short against the Mountain Lions, falling 42-21.
Despite the loss, Goldwater got top-tier performance from Hayhurst, who rushed for 179 yards and a touchdown, and also threw for 16 yards and a touchdown. Hayhurst's rushing production has been exceptional as that marked his eighth straight game with at least 111 rushing yards.
Even though they lost, Goldwater was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 220 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 217 rushing yards in eight consecutive contests.
Meanwhile, Willow Canyon didn't have quite enough to beat Ironwood on Friday and fell 30-28. The Wildcats have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Despite the defeat, Willow Canyon saw an underclassman step up: sophomore Cooper rushed for 239 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 8.2 yards per carry. With that strong performance, Cooper is now averaging an impressive 116.3 rushing yards per game. Another player making a difference was Roman Thuyns, who rushed for 63 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries.
Goldwater's loss dropped their record down to 6-3. As for Willow Canyon, their defeat dropped their record down to 3-6.
Everything came up roses for Goldwater against Willow Canyon in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, as the squad secured a 60-14 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Goldwater since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
