Football Preview: Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks vs. Douglas Bulldogs
The Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks will take on the Douglas Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Ironwood Ridge will be strutting in after a win while Douglas will be coming in after a defeat.
Ironwood Ridge took a loss when they played away from home last Friday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Friday. They breezed by Empire at home to the tune of 43-6. The Nighthawks pushed the score to 36-0 by the end of the third, a deficit the Ravens had no chance of recovering from.
Ironwood Ridge relied on the efforts of Jaiden Martinez, who rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns on only 13 carries, and Isaac Hyde, who rushed for 100 yards and two touchdowns on only 12 carries. Hyde also deserves a shoutout for his performance on D, picking up a sack and making four total tackles (1.0 for loss).
Perhaps unsurprisingly given the score, Ironwood Ridge was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 220 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since was before the start of last season.
Ironwood Ridge wouldn't let Empire keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Samuel Kleving was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance. He is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last five games he's played dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Douglas was not able to break out of their rough patch on Friday as the team picked up their third straight loss. They fell to Sahuaro 39-33. That's two games in a row now that the Bulldogs have lost by exactly six points.
Ironwood Ridge's victory was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 2-1. As for Douglas, their defeat dropped their record down to 0-3.
Everything came up roses for Ironwood Ridge against Douglas when the teams last played back in September of 2023 as the team secured a 47-14 win. In that contest, Ironwood Ridge amassed a halftime lead of 33-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
