The Valley Christian Trojans will be playing in front of their home fans against the Sabino Sabercats at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The timing is sure in Valley Christian's favor as the squad sits on seven straight wins at home (dating back to last season) while Sabino has been banged up by three consecutive losses on the road.
Valley Christian barely beat ALA - Ironwood the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Trojans claimed a resounding 49-20 victory over the Warriors. The Trojans pushed the score to 35-7 by the end of the third, a deficit the Warriors had little chance of recovering from.
Austin Schuder
| 10/31/25 @ ALA - Ironwood | 7 |
| 10/17/25 vs Odyssey Institute | 4 |
| 10/03/25 @ Seton Catholic | 3 |
| 10/24/25 vs Gilbert Christian | 2 |
| 09/19/25 vs Crismon | 2 |
Austin Schuder produced another solid performance throwing for 354 yards and seven touchdowns while picking up 16.1 yards per attempt, and also rushing for 51 yards on only seven carries. Those seven passing touchdowns gave him a new career-high. 86 of Schuder's passing yards were hauled in by Asher Hanzal, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
Meanwhile, while Sabino put up plenty of points on Friday, the same can't be said for Safford. The Sabercats came out on top against the Bulldogs by a score of 40-0 (the very same score they lost by in their prior game). The high-scoring effort was just what the Sabercats needed considering they were shut out in their previous game.
Valley Christian better focus on containing Zachari Haley and Bodhi Sanford as the pair were huge in Sabino's win. Haley gained 283 total yards, while Sanford threw for 283 yards and five TDs on only 17 passes. Sanford has become a key player for Sabino: the team is undefeated when he posts at least three passing touchdowns, but 0-6 otherwise.
Sabino's run defense was locked in: Safford could only muster 3.4 yards per carry. The team can thank Gabe Warren for the heroic effort on defense: he. Sabino didn't have any issues in that department, having averaged 7.9.
Sabino didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off three passes before the game was over. It was truly a group effort as Je'Miah Martinez, Javian Winton, and Anthony Dimas picked up one apiece.
Valley Christian's record is now 9-1. As for Sabino, their record now sits at 4-6.
We should be in store for an exciting game as the two teams have no problem gaining yardage. Valley Christian has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 364.4 total yards per game. However, it's not like Sabino struggles in that department as they've been averaging 355.6 total yards. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Valley Christian didn't have too much breathing room in their matchup against Sabino when the teams last played back in August, but they still walked away with an 18-14 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Haley, who rushed for 147 yards and one score, and also picked up 50 receiving yards and one touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will the Trojans still be able to contain Haley? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
