Football Recap: Higley Takes a Tough Playoff Loss + How To Watch

It's hard to turn regular season success into postseason wins, a fact Higley can now relate to. They fell 39-34 to the Casteel Colts on Friday. The result was an unpleasant reminder to the Knights of the 47-27 defeat they experienced in the pair's previous head-to-head fixture back in October of 2021.

Anthony Palka

Rushing Touchdowns

11/21/25 @ Casteel	2
10/31/25 vs Williams Field	1
10/24/25 @ Shadow Ridge	1
10/03/25 @ Saguaro	1

Several Knights players turned in solid performances despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Rylan Irwin, who rushed for 125 yards and one touchdown on only 14 carries. Irwin's longest rush was for an impressive 52 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Anthony Palka was in the mix as well, providing Higley with two scores.

Tee Smith continued his habit of posting crazy stat lines for Casteel, rushing for 198 yards and a pair of TDs, while also throwing for 154 yards and two touchdowns while completing 76% of his passes. Smith's rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his third straight game with at least 101 rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Wyatt Defreitas, who rushed for 74 yards and one score on only six carries.

Higley has traveled a rocky road recently, having lost three of their last four games. That's put a noticeable dent in their 7-5 record this season. As for Casteel, their record now sits at 7-5.

Higley does not have any more games scheduled as of now. As for Casteel, they will welcome Salpointe Catholic at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.