The Arvada West Wildcats will face off against the Northglenn Norsemen at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday. Both teams are coming into the matchup red-hot, with Arvada West sitting on 11 straight victories and Northglenn on four.
Arvada West is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Colorado's top teams: Chatfield, who was ranked 20th at the time (Arvada West was ranked third). The Wildcats simply couldn't be stopped on Wednesday as they easily beat the Chargers 49-7. The result was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have now won seven contests by 25 points or more so far this season.
Arvada West didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off four passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Grace Schillie and Hadlie Pugliese. Schillie got in on the action too, converting a pick into a touchdown.
Meanwhile, two teams were on the hunt for playoff glory, but only Northglenn walked away with it. They came out on top against the Rebels by a score of 21-12 on Tuesday.
Northglenn's win came from a few key players Arvada West will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Kaitlyn Fujinami, who threw for 216 yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 73 yards on only nine carries. Northglenn's leading receiver Evelynn Jaimes was Fujinami's top target yet again, picking up 100 receiving yards and a pair of TDs.
On the defensive side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Northglenn's defense and their six sacks. In fact, those sacks all came courtesy of defensive juggernaut Madeline Olmos. She is on a roll when it comes to sacks, as she's now posted at least one in each of the last ten games she's played. Another thorn in Columbine's side was Karol Martinez-Tiscareno, who made 12 total tackles and defended one pass.
Arvada West's win bumped their record up to 12-2. As for Northglenn, their victory bumped their record up to 12-4.
Arvada West took their win against Northglenn when the teams last played back in August by a conclusive 25-0 score. Will the Wildcats repeat their success, or do the Norsemen have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
