The Marana Tigers will head out to square off against the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Marana will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Marana is headed in fresh off scoring the most points they have all season. They claimed a resounding 52-25 win over Buena. The contest was pretty much decided by the half, when the score had already reached 35-13.
Jeffrey Smith III
| 09/26/25 vs Buena | 156 |
| 10/25/24 vs Buena | 118 |
| 10/11/24 vs Casa Grande | 102 |
| 09/12/25 @ Yuma Catholic | 79 |
| 09/06/24 @ Tucson High Magnet School | 77 |
Marana can attribute much of their success to Jeffrey Smith III, who rushed for 156 yards and a pair of TDs while picking up 8.7 yards per carry, and Colten Meyer, who threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns. Those 156 rushing yards gave Smith III a new career-high. A healthy portion of Meyer's aerial production (83 yards to be exact) went to Sean Roebuck, who also brought in a receiving touchdown.
On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Marana's defense and their five sacks. Justin Elder refused to say out of the backfield, picking up two sacks all by himself. Another thorn in Buena's side was Elder, who picked up two sacks and made five total tackles (3.5 for loss).
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Ironwood Ridge, who bounced back after a loss on the road last Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 24-6 victory over Canyon del Oro on Friday.
Ironwood Ridge's win came from a few key players Marana will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Maximus Harder, who threw for 192 yards and one touchdown, and also punched in one score on the ground.
Ironwood Ridge didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. Corbin Crosby was the real danger to the passing game, picking up two interceptions all by himself. Ironwood Ridge got some further help from Kaiden Becker: he picked up two sacks and made five total tackles.
Ironwood Ridge's first win this season bumped their record up to 1-4. As for Marana, their record now sits at 4-1.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's matchup: Marana has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 405 total yards per game. It's a different story for Ironwood Ridge, though, as they've been averaging only 226.4 total yards. Will Marana be able to march up the field at their leisure again, or will the Nighthawks flip the script?
Marana was taken down by Ironwood Ridge 69-27 in their previous matchup back in November of 2021. Can the Tigers avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
