Hayden is 2-8 against West Grand since October of 2015 but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Friday. The Tigers will take on the Mustangs at 7:00 p.m. Both teams are coming into the game red-hot, with Hayden sitting on five straight victories and West Grand on seven.
Hayden will bounce into Friday's contest after beating Vail Christian, who they had gone 1-6 against in their seven prior meetings. The Tigers really took it to the Saints for the full four quarters, racking up a 72-28 win. With the Tigers ahead 52-22 at the half, the matchup was all but over already.
| 10/24/25 vs Vail Christian | 4 |
| 10/17/25 @ Soroco | 1 |
| 10/10/25 @ Rangely | 3 |
| 10/03/25 vs Plateau Valley | 3 |
| 09/26/25 vs Lake County | 2 |
| + 2 more games |
Hayden's success was the result of a balanced attack that saw several players step up, but Peyton Johnson led the charge by rushing for 199 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.7 yards per carry, and also throwing for 76 yards and one TD. Thanks to that big game, Johnson is now up to 17 rushing touchdowns on the season. Another back making a difference was Danek DeMorat, who rushed for 148 yards and four scores while picking up 7.4 yards per carry.
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Hayden was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 428 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 172 rushing yards in five consecutive games.
Hayden didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Johnson and Carson Campbell. Johnson also punched in four rushing touchdowns, which is notable because Hayden is undefeated when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns, but 1-2 otherwise.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask West Grand). They blew past Vail Christian 60-20 two weeks ago. The score at the end of the third wound up being the final score as the Mustangs just coasted through the last quarter.
West Grand's win came from a few key players Hayden will need to keep an eye on. One of the most notable was Landon Lockhart, who rushed for 205 yards and a pair of touchdowns while picking up 12.8 yards per carry. Those 205 rushing yards gave him a new career-high. Ruben Hatcher was in the mix as well, providing West Grand with three TDs.
Hayden's record now sits at 6-2. As for West Grand, their record is now 7-1.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground. Hayden has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 302.2 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like West Grand struggles in that department as they've been averaging 258.4 rushing yards. There's a good chance Friday's matchup turns into a tough fight on the ground.
Hayden ended up a good deal behind West Grand when the teams last played back in November of 2024, losing 46-32. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of the Mustangs' Blake Terryberry, who rushed for 109 yards and five scores, and also threw for 206 yards on only 19 passes. Now that the Tigers know the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
