Football Preview: Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks vs. Flowing Wells Caballeros
Ironwood Ridge has gone 3-0 against Flowing Wells recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Friday. The Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks will face off against the Flowing Wells Caballeros at 7:00 p.m. One thing working in Ironwood Ridge's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points in their last three contests.
Last Friday, Ironwood Ridge humbled Sahuaro with a 37-7 victory. Considering the Nighthawks have won three matchups by more than 25 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
It was another big night for Jaiden Martinez, who rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown on only 11 carries, and also threw for 101 yards and three touchdowns while completing 76.9% of his passes. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Another player making a difference was Matthew Kroner, who picked up 35 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Ironwood Ridge's defense was in the mix too, especially the secondary: they snagged two passes before it was all said and done. The picks came courtesy of Joshua Sianez and Corbin Crosby.
Meanwhile, Flowing Wells entered their game against Goldwater on Friday without any home losses, but there's a first time for everything. Flowing Wells was just a hair shy of victory and fell 29-28 to Goldwater.
The match pitted two dominant backs against one another in Jayden Simmons and Dylan Hayhurst. Hayhurst had a great game and rushed for 176 yards and two touchdowns. Meanwhile, Simmons was balling out in the loss, rushing for 100 yards and two touchdowns.
Even though they lost, Flowing Wells was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 211 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 154 rushing yards in nine consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Ironwood Ridge's win was their seventh straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-1. As for Flowing Wells, their loss dropped their record down to 3-2.
We should be in store for an exciting game as the two teams have no problem gaining yardage. Ironwood Ridge has been on an offensive roll this season, having averaged 360.8 total yards per game. However, it's not like Flowing Wells struggles in that department as they've been averaging 350. With a pair of commanding offenses duking it out, the defenses are going to have their work cut out for them.
Everything came up roses for Ironwood Ridge against Flowing Wells when the teams last played back in September of 2023, as the team secured a 35-7 victory. The rematch might be a little tougher for Ironwood Ridge since the squad 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
