Preview: American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North Eagles vs. Horizon Huskies
The American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North Eagles will head out on the road to face off against the Horizon Huskies at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North had no problem doing just that on Thursday. They were the clear victor by a 48-24 margin over Marana. The victory was just what American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North needed coming off of a 51-27 loss in their prior match.
American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Conner White, who threw for 346 yards and four touchdowns while picking up 11.9 yards per attempt. Tyton Slade also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North's defense stepped up as well, laying out the QB four times. Marana's QB won't forget Noah Scheurn anytime soon given Scheurn sacked him twice.
Meanwhile, Horizon waltzed into Thursday's contest with four straight wins but they left with five. They took their game at home with ease, bagging a 77-21 victory over Canyon View. The game was all but wrapped up at the end of the third, by which point Horizon had established a 43 point advantage.
Jase Ashley and Bodie Zamorano were among the main playmakers for Horizon as the former threw for 176 yards and two touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes and the latter rushed for 123 yards and three touchdowns. Zamorano hasn't dropped below 100 rushing yards for five straight games. Anthony Segura was another major influence, as he rushed for 16 yards and ran in a TD.
American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North pushed their record up to 7-4 with that win, which was their fourth straight at home. Those good results were due in large part to their offensive dominance across that stretch, as they averaged 48.5 points per game. As for Horizon, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season.
American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North might still be hurting after the 51-27 loss they got from Horizon in their previous matchup two weeks ago. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Horizon's Ashley, who rushed for 82 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries, and also threw for 87 yards and two touchdowns while completing 100% of his passes. Now that American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? There's only one way to find out.
